RIFA presence in Texas

To me, RIFA sounds like a soccer club. but it's not. For one thing, soccer isn't very big in Texas; football is THE sport as far as most Texans are concerned, so a soccer club isn't very likely. For another, as wikipedia informed me, RIFA stands for 'red imported fire ant' (somebody stayed up into the wee hours of the morning coming up with that name). Not supposed to be indigenous to the United States. They snuck their way in through Mobile, Alabama from a South American ship in the 1930s. And now they terrorize the southwest.
I bring this up because a week and a half ago, I was pulling some weeds (which surprisingly still grow in a drought) and hit a jackpot of an anthill. I only noticed after two bit me on the thumb. It hurts, it itches, and apparently I'm mildly allergic because I still have the marks on my hand. But our weed situation is a bit out of control so I went in again yesterday, this time with gloves on.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [this represents the depressing realization that ants can crawl above my glove]
From a medical perspective, the ant bites are quite interesting, as I know I was only bitten by two ants each time, but I have 3 bite marks per 'battle', two quite close together and the other more of a loner. What this means, I have no idea. But it's interesting.
After 3 days of feeding the ants some Amdro, I plan to weed again [side note--why is seeding putting seeds in the ground but weeding is pulling weeds out?] with some nice neon-green gloves that go up to my elbows. If I go in fast and then make a quick retreat, I should be safe. In theory.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dogsledding: Guest Post

RATS! A Guest Column

Thoughts on Pregnancy