ANTS - THE RED TIDE

They started arriving as early as 1918, as far as anybody can tell. They were small, few in number, and of no real consequence. Nobody noticed. 

Later, more would come –but these new arrivals were different: they were were red in color, bigger, more robust, more aggressive, and packed a powerful sting. Hiding in soil used as ballast for ships coming into Mobile harbor in the early 1940's, they left their imported native sod and crept quietly ashore.

Once on terra firma, they went forth and multiplied. On gossamer wings, newly-hatched queens and drones took flight, establishing new nests in distant places. These newcomers, once kept in check by a species of fly while in their native South America, found a fertile new world perfect for their colonization – and NO PREDITORS!!!

They were called FIRE ANTS. Each tiny crimson creature could deliver a powerful, itchy, painful sting which would last for almost a week! Thousands of them would crawl up a cow's leg, and then, all at once, every ant would deliver a potent sting, first biting the victim - creating tiny holes in the skin with its  powerful mandibles, then  injecting a quantity of formic acid into the holes.   

If there were enough of them, the animal - usually a slow-moving cow - would die from the

stings. Cows became the most frequent victims because they would unknowingly step on an anthill, and then stand for a while in the same space over it, thus allowing large numbers of the ferocious insects, in defence of their home, to march upward and attack the intruder.  

Year-by-year they spread farther and wider, as nest after nest was established – each new colony itself later sent flying dozens of queens and drones to found even more nests, and so on. By the time of the first official survey carried out by the USDA in 1953, imported fire ants had invaded 102 counties in 10 states (Culpepper 1953). It has only gotten much worse since then.

Now, I don’t dislike ants in general – they have their place in Nature...but I do HATE FIRE ANTS with a passion!

One day, while at my grandparents', I went to the front to greet some relatives who were visiting. Not even two years old than, I didn't know any better, and I stepped right onto a large anthill. The ants raced up both legs and without warning, and as if on cue, all bit me at the same instant. 

Both startled and in great pain, I screamed, as an electric current seemed to pass through my body. Turning to see why I was crying out, my folks immediately began whisking the ants off my legs as fast as they could. They took me inside, and put me into the bathtub, where they washed me with soap and cold water, and followed up the bath by applying a generous amount of Dr. Tichenor's antiseptic.

The antiseptic cooled and soothed for awhile, but had to be reapplied frequently, else the searing, stinging, burning pain would return with a vengeance. That night I had a dream that my legs were all holes - indentations like on a chunk of Swiss cheese - and at the bottom of each little pit was a FIRE ANT, eathing me alive!

Later on, as I grew up and suffered many more ant attacks, I discovered that I was allergic to the venom, and would develop a searing hatred for the stinging things, vigorously seeking out and attacking every nest I could find – wherever they were - walking the streets and yards where my grandparents lived with buckets of hot water, pails of soap water, chlordane dust, and ant-killing spray. For a wonder I did not become an exterminator!

I must say that I was quite effective in erradicating fire ants from my neighborhood. These unwelcomed immigrants who never showed mercy – would get none!