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Anonymous
I used to argue with people that there was no animal species or type that didn't deserve to exist or need to. Basically, I'm the type that enjoys having garden spiders, would rather catch and release a mouse than kill it, and takes turtles out of the way of traffic (to the side of the road they were heading, of course).

I completely rescind these sentiments where fire ants are concerned.

Fire ants need to be fucking eradicated.
I sincerely hate the little expansionist bastards. Every summer, no matter how many precautions I take, no matter how clean I keep my house and yard, I wind up with both yard and house infested.
This year, I had seeded all the little mounds that were forming with a poison bait to kill the queen and sprayed around the perimeter of my house and foundations with a barrier poison. I've seen no signs of the ants after these kill-offs until now:
They're in my house again. Specifically my bedroom. There's no food, no. They apparently just think my room is AWESOME. Worse part is, they stealthed in on me while I was asleep, so I'm covered with welts and have had a lovely allergic reaction which necessitated me going to the hospital earlier today.
I hate those little fuckers.
>> Anonymous
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Another fun thing, by the way?
They have been known to short electrical systems by stripping the wires. They also have a taste for computers.
>> Anonymous
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And they're spreading.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
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And when it floods, they form balls to protect their eggs. It's quite fun to use waves to ram them into things. Not so great when a passing boat waves the ant-swarm into your legs.

They are awesome creatures, and I think they should stay purely because they are an unsung terror. People are afraid of sharks, but don't realize that they are in more danger in their back yards.

<3 fire ants
>> Anonymous
>>125480
Yeah... back in 1999 when there was a flood here, I bumped into a lot of fire ant balls like that while doing animal and people rescues.
It wasn't ... pleasant.
>> Anonymous
In the coming war between ant and man, i'm totally on the ant's side!
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>125484
I was helping with animal rescue in NOLA after the levee collapse.. there is nothing quite as horrible and morbidly hilarious as a dead hooker covered in fire ants floating in the middle of the road.

>>125489
As well you should!
>> Anonymous
I just moved to florida... and I too am discovering the horrors of Fireants. My fiance left the window open a bit and we got attacked in ouy sleep... I hate them.
>> Anonymous
>>125490
Oh well...
I'm in a rural area, so no (obvious human) hookers...
But there was this pig and a goat in a tree covered in them and this wad of chickens in the same state.
At least I got an awesome pet cat out of it.
>> Anonymous
move somewhere else then...
>> Anonymous
There aren't any fire ants where I live (Central), but we have these nasty, TINY red ants that just LOVE an open window... I've only seen them once, but they also snuck up on me while I was sleeping... little bastards didn't leave much of a welt, but it was enough to send me looking for hairspray. Little shits.
>> Anonymous
>>125550
Prohibitive cost, do you know it?
>> Anonymous
They're all over Texas. You would think that such a widespread pest would have much more predators.
>> Anonymous
>>125565
Sounds like fire ants to me.

Comes in two varieties: Normal looking, and size of a nailhead.
>> Anonymous
>>125637
They're an invasive species, so there's not a natural enemy for them in the US.
There *is* however, a type of fly that lays it's eggs inside the ants, and then the larva eats the ant from the inside out... eventually eating the brain and decapitating the insect. And that's basically its only enemy. There's a bunch of guys working on breeding these flies to use to eliminate the fire ants, though.
I think they're called... something like dead head flies or some such...
>> Anonymous
>>125646
What if those flies become a new problem?

Does anyone know the fire ant's natural predator from whereever it came from?
>> Anonymous
you need http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps
>> Anonymous
By saving that tutle on the road you just might possibly have allowed a starving Critically Endangered scavenger whose trying all their best to raise 4 babies now suffer and perish

Stop playing fucking god to other creatures
>> Anonymous
Im SO glad we dont have those here. Cant survive our winters. Keeps Cockroaches away too. they're quite rare here, and if you see one, they're small. Ive yet to see one myself here.
>> Anonymous
>>125768
What are you, Canadian?
>> Anonymous
We don't have cockroaches or fire ants here either, and close enough to Canada- Michigan.
>> Anonymous
>>125648
The aforementioned fly.
It only lays eggs in fireants. It can't exist without them.
>> Anonymous
>>125648
Humans. Sadly deep fried fire ants are not liked in the US either
>> Alabama !OxEQ.F0AOw
Hmmm. I live in fire ant central and haven't heard of them attacking people in their sleep. And I leave my window open quite a bit. Of course, we have an exterminator spray around the house twice a year, but that's for termites. I assume he uses regular Permethrin.
>> Anonymous
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>>126026
Were getting sprayed and stuff now. Apparently, we have them really bad. ;_; Fireant bites hurt. Untill I moved to Florida, I had no idea how small many of the fireants are...
>> Anonymous
What about wasps? No positive effect on the earth whatsoever. No medicinal purposes, no part of the food chain. Fuck them
>> Anonymous
>>126178
They sting morons like you to death.
>> Anonymous
Ticks people. Ticks
>> Anonymous
>>125474
where do you live? i've never had any ant problems
>> Anonymous
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DON'T WORRY.
FIRE ANTS WILL BE DESTROYED BY US.
>> Anonymous
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RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
>> Anonymous
>>126202
I live in the coastal part of North Carolina in a semi-rural area.
>> Anonymous
>>125757
roads aren't natural.
now say if you see a turtle getting attacked by a coyote(or any other wild animal), it should be left alone. thats nature.

roads are not.
>> 4tran
>>125757
Let's suppose you neglect to save the turtle and it gets pwnt by a car. The scavenger in question descends on the corpse... only to get hit by the next car. gj now both are dead
>> Anonymous
in basic training fire ants went up my leg and started bite/stinging my balls i say kill every last one of them
>> Anonymous
Ever sat down on a nest of these fuckers?No?I did.
>> Anonymous
speaking of bugs that need to GTFO, mr.fuzzy needs to die as well
>>125877
>> HarblongCassidy !KzfKdB2Xmc
>>125474

My mom saved a turtle that was in a deep hole in a construction pit way before I was born. Eastern-painted, little guy's probably nearing 30 years old now.
>> Anonymous
>>125743
Soup made out of those taste fucking delicious.
>> Anonymouse !3va26cL7i2
>>126503
Ouch, thats nasty.

I fucking hate mosquitoes (Especially now I'm being bitten by them and their family).
>> 4tran
>>126544
Nice.

>>126554
I hate them too, especially since nobody else gets bitten if I'm nearby.
>> Anonymous
Im all for eradicating them... but good fuckin luck with that!

if you want someone to blame, blame those who like bananas! Thats how they got to the US at least
>> Anonymous
We eradicated smallpox, why not fire ants?!
>> undiente
Mosquitoes are unnecesary!

The war shouldnt be against Irak, it should be against MOSQUITOES!!!!!!

*takes bazooka and starts killing mosquitoes*
>> Anonymous
>>126636
Fire ants don't kill people. Well, not healthy adults. Assassinate some politician's newborn with fire ants, and that'll get them wiped out in short order.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>126659
Fire ants can easily kill people. If you are allergic, you can have the same reaction to a single bite as to a bee sting. The people that are most in danger are those that have never been bitten by an ant and are allergic to other insects. That's why nearly everyone in the south carries an Epipen, or has one in their home. My grandma got stung by a wasp at the zoo, and started to go into shock, and three different women yanked the damn pens out of their purses at the same time and rushed over to her.
>> Anonymous
i've got the same thing but with millipedes...a 100 times worse
>> Anonymous
>>126664
And that's precisely why I wound up in the hospital. I have a very bad reaction to mosquitoes (my joints in the affected area will swell and it looks like arthritis) and I had problems with bee stings as a child but it doesn't seem to affect me any more, really.
I've gone through and pulled all furniture away from the walls and thoroughly sprayed a 6 inch wide swath of poison which seems to be working so far, but I've also place poison bait out again in the yard to try and kill off the queen and so forth.

>>126643
As badly as I react to mosquito bites, I feel that mosquitoes are indeed a necessary thing... They have a natural predator in the US, and I'm very fond of frogs. Plus, mosquitoes aren't hard to ward off. There's lots of simple ways to ward them off from making sure there's no standing water around, having certain plants they dislike the scent of, or putting on repellent.
Personally, I've eradicated the mosquito threat around my house.
>> Anonymous
>>126677

mike, is that you?
>> Anonymous
>>126643

Mosquitos are very much necessary for animals that feed on mosquitos (which in turn are necessary for animals that eat animals that feed on mosquitos etc.) Nobody needs fireants, though.
>> Anonymous
>>126702
At least where they're the invasive species since nothing can eat the little fuckers since they taste like shit.
>> Anonymous
On an unrelated note, I can't for the life of me understand how people can be allergic to _mosquitoes_ of all things. Seriously, live one summer around here and you're bitten like a few hundred times, only by mid-June you won't notice them anymore because you've acquired a tolerance.

Yet my half-niece is so allergic to that shit, she gets these (and I'm not kidding) fist-sized welts from every single bite. If there's more than say two or three on her at a time, she swells up altogether. Like in the face and all. Every summer I'm completely taken aback by her reaction to the slightest buzzing and her use of mosquito repellent which could be said to border on compulsive. "Seriously, what. Mosquitoes? WTF."

Now, horseflies. Those things are fucking nasty. One took a chunk out of this mole I have on my back once; damn thing had to be removed by a doctor and being stitched together. Bled quite a bit too.
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
>>126724
Hee, flies! Any canukian anons want to confirm the rumour that there are "bulldog" flies that take out chunks of your skin in and around Quebec?