For the past few mornings, there has been a visitor in the gardens. A male skink has been trying to set his dominance over the other male skinks that live in the area. This newcomer has decided that he should be ruler. The upstart is boisterous, arrogant and is a big showoff. Two mornings ago, this rapscallion decided to physically attack the older ruler of "Skinkland". Mark witnessed the ambush and called my attention to it. The newcomer was trying to overpower the older, weaker skink and was doing a pretty good job of it. In fact, the younger, stronger skink had a "death grip" on the head of the old King. It was not a pretty sight but I grabbed the camera to see if I could document this moment in the "wild". Needless to say, when I stuck the camera close to the lizard fight, it gave the old lizard the opportunity it needed to cut loose and escape. Our old ruler ran under the house, all the while, being chased by the rogue. I figured the melee was over and soon forgot about the skinks.
This morning, however, I noticed that the Old King had taken refuge in the hollow trunk of an oak tree near the house. He had come out of a small fissure in a tree root and was trying to soak up a bit of sunshine. The poor fellow looked a mite worse for wear after the battle. He appeared weakened and almost saddened. I suppose he had to relinquish his crown to the young whippersnapper and that did not set well. His plight touched me as I could commiserate with the fact of getting old. Life is sometimes not fair to lizard kings nor old ladies.
The Old King and I sat in quiet respectfulness for a good while. Neither of us made the attempt to try to understand why things happen but we just shared a bit of peace. After a bit, I reassured the Old King that he was still needed and offered him friendship. I hope he has complete peace in his new dwelling spot. I am not sure the New King will rule nearly so fairly as the Old King had. The garden spot is changing.
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.
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!
