Posted on 08/28/2017 10:38:36 AM PDT by Red Badger
One danger evacuees and first responders are dealing with along with the flooding in Houston is fire ants.
Islands of fire ants!
CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca tweeted a photo from Houston as the ants formed a protective island in the high water.
According to Orkin.com, fire ants can exist in colonies of up to 250,000 workers and will sting intruders repeatedly. Fire ants feed on animal or vegetable sources of food according to the web site.
No reports yet of anyone getting bitten by fire ants.
Tropical Storm Harvey continues to head back toward the Gulf of Mexico at a slow pace.
In its 10 p.m. CDT Sunday advisory, the National Hurricane Center reported that the storm still had sustained winds of up to 40 mph and is centered 20 miles east of Victoria, Texas, about 120 miles southwest of Houston. It continues to creep to the east-southeast at 3 mph.
That means it remains virtually stalled near the coast and continues to drop heavy rain on the Houston and Galveston areas. In the past 48 hours, numerous spots in the region have measured more than 25 inches of rainfall.
The hurricane center says Harvey’s center was expected to drift off the middle Texas coast on Monday and meander offshore through Tuesday before beginning “a slow northeastward motion.”
It’s true, they crawl up you leg, but don’t bite until a bunch of them get some kind of chemical signal, then they all bite at once!!!!
I probably had 20 or so bites on my legs simultaneously and if you get bit by enough of them you can pass out and die!..........................
Diatomaceous earth. That’s all that’s needed.
I don’t know if that will work on Fire Ants........................
That’s where one of those Antifa patented flamethrowers would be right handy.
I just had a HUGE IDEA..................
Capture these ‘islands’ and use them to throw back at the BLM/ANTIFA idiots during their next riot...................
That is so cool!
That would be Airman. The blue suit is a dead giveaway.
When mowing with our 54” deck, I turn the deck off, lower it, drive over the mound, shaving the top inch off it. Then back up and watch them come pouring out. Raise the deck to normal cutting height, turn it on, drive forward with the left of the three blades over the mound. After being batted around by the three blades casualty rates are high.
If after first shaving the top off the mound, one sees it has exposed a layer of larvae, I simply go back and forth over that with a front tire, turning it and mad ants into slightly muddy texture.
Also, one can take a flat shovel, shave the top off, quickly spray the surface and saturate the holes with engine starting fluid, then quickly put the dirt that was shaved off back on top, patting it down some to help seal in the ether.
But, actually, I think they are going to own the south sooner or later.
A little gas mixed with oil, a match and you get rid of a ton of them.
The hurricane probably all but destroyed real estate market down there.
Classic Man-vs-ant movie.
NONSENSE!
Now there’s WATERFRONT PROPERTY EVERYWHERE!.....................
That's a good question. I believe the answer is that their weight isn't enough to break the surface tension of the water. That's an amazing photo of the ants' natural instinct of survival............
Photo of one of my favorite bugs.........Water Strider
Yep.
Get some dishwashing soap and squirt it on the water near them and see what happens.
Just don’t squirt it between you and them.
They’re nasty little beasties.
A cup of gas and a match! The way I deal with yellow jacket or hornet nest in the ground.
Fire ants! Nasty sumbitches!
. .
Classic Niece vs. Aunt movie
Great. Now you have a floating ball of fire.
Leiningen versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leiningen_Versus_the_Ants
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