Monday, August 11, 2008

Fire Ant Sting


Back to work today and my morning schedule has changed ... I have not yet, so a short post.


The picture above is a fire ant sting on the morning after.

They bite AND sting.


Aren't they clever.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Horrid things, but useful.
Where-ever there are fire ants, there will NOT be termites. That is why you often find fire ant beds near old rotting logs or scrap wood. Termites are their favorite snack. Best first aid I have found is a dab of ammonia on the bite as soon as possible. I keep a bottle in my golf cart for just such an occasion.
Judith

Anonymous said...

um, samantha has dozens of those.... lol

Emily said...

I can relate - I had a wasp fly up my skirt at church yesterday and sting my arse. Funny, but still hurts. Good luck getting back into routine!

Kathleen said...

Here's to a great school year! May number 20 be the most inspiring yet - for you and your students! I was going to leave well wishes yesterday, but adore my feline friends so much I thought it might be dangerous if I got mixed up in the pet politics. :-)

Miz S said...

HOLY HELL! That looks ouch-y, as we say in first grade.

A week from today I will join you in the classroom. Well, not YOUR classroom. You know what I mean.

Enjoy your beginning of the year staff meeting. HA.

Caroline said...

I go back in 2 weeks, boy the summer has slipped by fast! It is as hard for the "grown-ups" to shift gears as it is for the kids when school starts up again.

Have a great year, looking forward to postings about your classroom adventures along with the PFHQ sightings.
Caroline in South Dakota

R.Powers said...

Judith,
I can go in my back yard and turn over two adjacent rotting stumps, one will have termites, the other fire ants, so I don't think that is true all the time.

Laura,
And I feel for her. I hope she heals quickly!

Emily,
Yowch!!! Poor thing.

Kathleen,
The pet politics took on a life of it's own!
Too funny tho.

Miz S,
Brain death so far today.

Caroline,
Thanks, I hope to share some chalk stories along the way.

Anonymous said...

I hate fire ants. I think I said that before. I have read that they clamp onto their target with their biters and then do a little dance, stinging as they go around. The sting I got was easily as painful as a wasp, and it lasted a long time as a hard, raised spot about the size of a quarter. I would be happy to see the last of them sail away back home to South America.

dguzman said...

I miss living in Texas sometimes, but not when I see a welt like that. I love being able to walk barefoot in my yard in PA and NOT worry about ants (or scorpions, or chiggers, or...).

Kathleen said...

Brain death... how sad and often true. So many inservice days feel like they last a week! I start back next Monday.

Once again, I'm glad we don't have those things in Pennsylvania! Good thing I wasn't born in the south, huh?

threecollie said...

Ouch, ouch, ouch...another critter I don't much feel the lack of.
Sorry about the back to work part of it.

Anonymous said...


I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to reading your carefully worded responses to each of the disgruntled cat lovers. (That would have been fun.) Instead, we're talking about ants. Darn!

:)

Sandcastle Momma said...

Summer vacation has gone by too fast this year. I'm a firm believer in the 'out of school on Memorial Day and not back in school til Labor Day' policy of my youth.

Looks like you picked a non-confrontational topic today. Fire ants are a universaly hated critter LOL
Try not to scratch!

Anonymous said...

I have some that look similiar on my arms and boy do they itch. I was wearing rubber gloves and rubber boots when weeding yesterday and they still got me. Hope the first day back was not too mind numbing.It is just precaution to keep you on your toes so your students do not have to experience the boredom.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Shucks. That's about all I can say: Shucks.

R.Powers said...

Mark,
I'd be happy to see each and every one of them keel over dead ... north of America del Sur.

dguzman,
Welcome to Pure Florida!
I hear ya. I go barefoot alot around here, but we do have alot of creepies.

Kathleen,
Why do school administrators drone on and one and read their handouts to you? If we taught like that the kids would riot.
I was thinking about it myself.

3C,
Imagine them swarming one of your newborn calves, your chicks, etc. They will even get in your sweet corn.
Gotta hate em.

Susan,
Go back and look.
:)

SCMOMMA,
Yes! I miss that summer too.

Cathy S,
I survived. Drove home through the woods for therapy.

Hoss,
You said it.

Anonymous said...

Was this a food post, too? Looked like at least one of them liked what he bit. Swarmy behavior is pure wickedness.

R.Powers said...

Freste,
He didn't bite me, he stung me. So not food, ... anger managemANT post perhaps?

billg8tr said...

Fire ants, bull ants, carpenter ants, black ants. There are all kinds but my favorite were the Army ants on TV that munched up whole towns. I really don't mind the ants, anytime one gets me I figure it is payback from the firecrackers and the hose when I was a kid.

R.Powers said...

Billy,
True, perhaps they are just settling the score with us.

Lynn said...

Fire ants are EVIL!