Big Headed Rascals

  Usually, when people are called "big-headed", it refers to their inflated egos and not the actual size of their heads.  I know a few people that could fit the description well.  They have such a high opinion of themselves that they act like they are a few notches above all others.  Sorry to burst their bubbles but no one is above anyone else.  In my opinion, everyone is equal.  Sure some are better at certain things but everyone has a way to shine.  Those inflated egos do nothing but irk others.  This is not about people and their uppity ways, however, but about some truly big-headed critters.  Yep, critters with unusually large heads!

  My herb garden is coming along nicely with the exception of one small problem.  A colony of big-headed ants has decided that the freshly dug dirt is an ideal place to call home.  This habitation became quite noticeable by way of a few bites.  Something had to be done to eradicate the critters before anyone else had a run-in with them.  With that in mind, a bit of "target-specific" ant bait was carefully administered  and after just a few days...no more ants.

  Big-headed ants do, indeed, have a huge head.  Well, some of the worker ants do, at least.  The colony is made up of the queen(s) and two types of workers...the major workers and the minor workers.  Both types are foragers and builders but the major workers have huge heads while the minor workers are wee beings.  They both make tunnels as they forage for food.  Each colony can have several fertile queens so the colony rapidly grows once established.  They do not sting and are slow to bite doing so only if their nest is disturbed (which I did).  While this non-stinging/slow to bite ant sounds ideal, it is an invasive species that does disrupt the lives of other ants.  In fact, this big-headed ant can displace red fire ants.  Wait! Maybe I should not have gotten rid of the invasive critters that do not sting and are slow to bite!  Fire ants hurt!  They bite and then sting!  Perhaps the big-headed ants are not so bad after all.  I just do not need them in the herb garden.

Waging War!

  It seems that during the 1930s, a ship made a run from South America to the Port of Mobile (Alabama).  Supposedly, this ship used dirt as ballast and supposedly, the folks loading the ballast were not overly observant about what dirt they used.  (Or, perhaps, there were no laws about such things back then.)  The dirt contained fire ants and, once the ship made port, the ants found a new home.  So, according to all accounts, Mobile, Alabama was where the feisty critters found their start in the United States.  Since then, the ants found the area favorable due to the warm, humid climate and they multiplied greatly.  The colonies soon spread all over the southeast and that includes the area around the Bayou.  We have our share of the little, biting buggers.  I have been battling fire ants for as long as I can remember!  Not one that likes using a lot of harmful chemicals, I use a method that Mark's uncle taught me.  This involves bringing a very large pot of water to a boil, toting it outside to the fire ant mound, using a long stick, poke a hole in the top of the mound and, finally, dumping the entire pot of hot water into the mound.  The water causes the mound to collapse killing thousands of the mean critters.  The next day, check the area.  Usually, the remaining live ants will be carrying out their dead and the damaged eggs.  Others may be relocating within a short distance and creating a new mound.  It is best to attack both sites this time..the new mound and the old caved-in mound.  This method has proven to lessen the number of mounds in the yard greatly. 

  I did find a huge mound this afternoon.  Son and I were out doing a bit of yard work when I happened to walk past a large clump of palmettos.  I rarely go past this clump since it is on the edge of our property.  Today, however, I meandered on the back side and found the gigantic fire ant mound!  My goodness!  This thing towered above the ground a good 18 inches high and was 2 feet in diameter!  I made a mental note to boil water tomorrow!  Son and I will tackle the colony with a vengeance over the next few days.  Normally, the ants will mate in spring but with the lack of winter, they may take a notion to swarm soon.  It will be wise to try to eradicate them while they are all still in the one mound.

Bite/Sting...Whatever!

  Down here in the Deep South (probably in a lot of other places, as well), we deal with a lot of critters.  I am usually pretty tolerant of most as I chose a mantra of "Live and let live".  I do, however, draw the line with things that bite/sting me, eat my garden or eat my house.  Yep, I am talking bugs here.  Our bout with termites eating the house (thanks, Hurricane Katrina) and an onslaught of weird grasshoppers eating the garden has taught me a couple of things.  First...be sure to take care of those critters right away.  Do not assume that because you only see a few, there are no more.  There are and they will soon wreak havoc on everything.   Several types of the critters are literally trying to eat us out of house and home.  We are dealing...slowly. Two...be careful where you step as some of the critters inflict pain!  Causing them to go into defensive mode is asking for trouble!

  One type of critter that is the bane of my existence is the fire ant.  These ants excavate massive hives beneath the ground and create large mounds above ground.  I am ok with ants being around the place as they do serve a purpose.  They clean up dead things or rotted things.  The stench of what could be is not a happy thought.  I am grateful for that but I am not overly happy with the critters biting/stinging me.  I do realize that they are trying to defend their territory but it just happens that this is also my territory.  Accidentally stepping on the side trails of an ant mound can lead to a leg full of nasty pus-filled lesions that can linger for a week or more.  To those that are allergic or weakened, a number of the bites/stings can cause severe medical issues.  

  As you may have noticed, I keep saying bite/sting and that is not an oversight.  Fire ants bite only to get a good grip on you so they can use their stinger which is located on their posterior end.  The stinger is loaded with venom that causes serious pain!  It is because of this, that fire ants are not on my "Like List".  This afternoon, I was traipsing about behind the canebrake when I accidentally stepped on one of those side trails leading to a mound.  Immediately, my leg felt like it was on fire!  The red, swollen areas still itch tonight and it is driving me crazy!!  Fire ants are evil beings!  After the rains that supposed to set in tonight, I shall be out hunting down those critters and exterminating all I can.  This is war!

The Live Bridge

  Early this morning, we decided that the swimming pool that we purchased for the grandlittles' visit needed to be given a new home. First. we had to empty the thing of the couple of thousand gallons of water.  Not a problem...or so we thought.  The emptying was easy.  The finding a place for that much water was not easy.  With all of the recent rains (we have received well over our average yearly rainfall quota already), the ground is saturated.   Although we live on a high hill above the Bayou, the ground is soggy.  You can only pour so much water on something before it gets full and refuses to soak up any more. (As I am writing this, rain is once again pelting the Little Bayou House...oh fun!) The water draining from the pool was more or less just sitting in a huge puddle.  Imagine three inches of water just puddling on top of a hill!  Crazy!

  After about half of the water drained through the opened plug hole, I noticed that we had a shimmering, squirming, living bridge thing happening on the north side of the pool.  Obviously, some ants had made a nest somewhere under the azalea bushes nearby and they were being flooded out of their home.  With nowhere else to go, they clung to each other to make this mass floating bridge.  From there, a single file of ants of was making its way to the top of the board path and then on to find a new homesite.  

  With ants, it is all about the survival of the colony instead of the self.  Inevitably, some ants would die because of their selfless act of being the lower ones on the bridge but the colony, itself, would have enough survivors to recreate a nest.  (Well, in most cases this would happen.  Not this time.  I could not take the chance of letting this many fire ants live this close to the Little Bayou House.  There are too many children that visit.  So, as much as I hate to kill any living being, the ants had to go.  A can of spray obliterated the bridge.  Hopefully, any remaining ants will journey a good ways away from the house to continue their lives.  

Those Varmints!

With all of the rain pelting the Bayou, it has been a few days that I have actually had time to spend on the pier.  Time dilly-dallying was cut short as storms would chase me back inside.  I had just enough pier-time to check the crab traps and fill the bait boxes.  Sunrises and sunsets were not to be found peeking out between the clouds!  It was a constant gray.  Today, however, there were periodic breaks in the weather that allowed me to actually hang around the pier for a bit longer.  It was then that I noticed the varmints.  Notice that I did not call these creatures, critters, friends or buddies...these were varmints!    Ants!

Several of the planks on the pier are obviously infested with fire ants.  Now go figure!  I am not talking about the planks that are up close to the shore end but rather some that are quite far out over the water!  Wondering if the army of little biters had just wandered down the pier to seek some tasty treats, I started watching them.  Their trail led straight to one of the posts.  Keep in mind that the posts at this distance down the pier are always seated in water.  The ants had actually made a nest in the post.  How?  How and why did the ants chose a post out in the middle of the water as home?  It was slightly confusing to say the least. Michael pounded on the post.  More ants poured out of a small hole in the top.  Soon fire ants were everywhere!  Something needed to be done about these varmints before they weakened the post and planks enough that the pier could become dangerous.  Something definitely needed to be done, but what?  I absolutely refuse to dump any toxic chemicals onto the posts as this could end up in the Bay waters.  Michael and I discussed our options as we headed back up the hill to the Little Bayou House.  The rains had started once again but at least this was washing a goodly number of the disoriented ants into the Bay!  Perhaps fish will eat these before they can find their way ashore or to another post.

I do believe that the only safe option is to pour boiling water on the posts and hope for the best.  Mark's Uncle Stanley has used this method for years with some success.  Perhaps we will try it tomorrow if the weather permits.  Either this..or I find an aardvark!  Yep, I need an aardvark!