Fire Ants
 

seem to be very active right now. I just saw this amazing video of some crossing water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A042J0IDQK4

Well, thanks for that Sam! Now I have something to dream about tonight, right after my favorite, "the roof is falling in on us". :1rotfl: On the serious side, our friend was attacked my fireants after accidently stepping on the side of the their nest. He ended up in the emergency room due to all the bites.

Nice going sam !!!
 

Now everyone will want to drain the ponds to escape " a-day"

Besides they're easy to get rid of .........I just sprinkle some of my wifes FAMOUS STEW on the lawn and I haven't seen an ant in two years........Come to think of it I haven't had any company either..............


lonesone fumar

I have had Once a Year over here on a regular basis for the past few weeks. I have also purchased and applied several bags of fire ant killer and tried putting cornmeal on the hills. That cornmeal trick does not work for me. They are thriving. When I think of how much poison we put into the ground around here, it frightens me.
I have had half a dozen fire ant bites over the last couple of weeks and they hurt like the dickens. You can be bitten many times and suddenly become very allergic to their venom. A neighbor came close to death after being stung. They are nasty.

Yeah, Sam, that is what happened to the friend I mentioned. He had difficulty breathing by the time they began treating him at the hospital. I don't like those little beasts at all....

Bleach will neutrilize some stings
 

If you don't wait a long time after a bite, wipe bleach on those bites or better yet spritz some bleach on those hands and lower legs PRIOR to going out to do yard work , it will work most of the time. Like skin so soft for black flies and mosqitoes. Been doing this for years.
The smell is not the best but your going to shower after yard work anyway, so ..............

I was using the bleach. It seems to be working less than it did originally. The last bites required two benadryl every few hours. It was a sleepy day.

They can be deadly...My sister-in-law was gardening and got bit by them (Not too many)...She died the next day from anaphylactic shock...She and I used to get bit by them once in a while and we both would have the same reaction...Itching and swelling.... so trust me when I say I am VERY careful when I'm outside. The doctors say that if you start itching and swelling on other parts of your body where you weren't bit, you should go to the ER immediately. Now I take two Benydryl immediately and also have an Epi-pen in case I start having trouble breathing..
I'm not trying to scare people and I know many who have hardly any reaction to the bite of a fire ant...I'm just saying to be careful around these darn ants...

Imagine being the person the Indians in the old West would stake to the ground on an ant hill.

That is horrible!! I was told that intense itching under the arms and in the groin area was one of the earliest symptoms this person suffered before going into shock.

OK GUYS LISTEN UP ......

NEXT TIME YOU GO TO THE SUPER MARKET .....BUY A BAR OF FELS NAPTHA SOAP..............WHEN YOU GET A BITE , DIP THE BAR IN WATER AND RUB ON THE BITE UNTIL IT MAKES A PASTE , LET IT DRY AND LEAVE IT ON FOR A HALF HOUR OR SO .................THIS WORKS ON EVERYTHING FROM STINGS TO DOG BITES .......DON'T GO TO THE DOGGIE RUN WITHOUT IT ....I MUST ADMIT I HAVEN'T TRIED ON SHARK BITES YET BUT AM TOLD IT WORKS VERY WELL...I THINK BOBBY DARREN TOLD ME THAT......
AS FOR THE COUPLE OF PEOPLE FROM THE POLITICAL FORUM ( you know who you are) I'M TOLD IT WORKS WELL ON JOCK ITCH..........

THE ADVICE ON THE PREVIOUS POST IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, IF YOU START ITCHING OR SWELLING IN AREAS OTHER THAN THE BITE ,,,,THEN HEAD FOR THE EMERGENCY ROOM OF YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL......

always glad to be of service FUMAR

OK.

I will go buy a bar of Fels Naptha. Good to know. I once got chiggers. Jiggers. Whatever it is you call the little, and I do mean little, :cus:

But now I have to tell you something else. It is the truth.

I have been in and out of here tonight, pointing and clicking around, and doing a few other things in between. All in a hurry.

I just now glanced at the list of topics. I thought this one said, "Fine Arts."

Imagine my discombobulation when I read the post I just read.

Oh well. Good to know, anyway.

Boomer

Boomer, you crack me up.
Fumar, Thanks for the Naptha tip. One thing though..your comment "AS FOR THE COUPLE OF PEOPLE FROM THE POLITICAL FORUM ( you know who you are) I'M TOLD IT WORKS WELL ON JOCK ITCH..........", well, isn't that a male only thing???

Definitely off topic, but just wanted us to remind ourselves that those Indians could well have been those whose people were LITERALLY used for target practice by the settlers and/or the cavalry. Check your history; I'm not making this up....