Translation Tuesday: Fire Ants

Fire Ants… also known as the spawn of the devil. In my opinion, hell hath no fury like a fire ant whose fire ant hill has been messed with. Damn annoying little creatures that BITE!

I can still remember the first time I ever got bit by a fire ant…. July 1992 or 91. We had flown down South for my Grandpa Bob’s funeral. After the funeral we all were at my grandparents house and all of the grandkids were in the pool or around the pool. I was standing on the pool deck and eating a firecracker popsicle when I felt these stings on my leg… I looked down and there were ants crawling up my leg. I jumped in the pool, popsicle in hand, to  wash them off. And then I noticed the welts on my leg. This was nearly 20 years ago and I still remember! Clearly, fire ants leave an impression.

So, if you want to know about the species and scientific info behind them do a Google search… I tried and it just made me a little sick to my stomach looking at the pictures of the ants. Ew. Anyway, there are various types of fire ants and the bites irritate some of people but not all. You can tell their ant hills because they are these reddish mounds that look like little mountains all over the grass. If you tap one with your foot (and then jump back) you can see the little suckers swarm all over the place. Thankfully, enough pest control companies have developed ways to kill them that it is not hard to dump some fire ant killer on top of the mound and then be free to walk barefoot in the yard.

It never fails, I get at least one fire ant bite per year. This year it came in early March on my right foot and left and itchy red welt for a week. Nasty little bugs. So if you come visit us down South, be on the lookout for the ants!