Naomi

Nightmare at CultureSurfer.com Headquarters (Warning: looking at this post may induce nausea or itchy skin)

Sunday, June 1, 2008 3:25:23 AM

rain, ants, st. louis, culturesurfer.com

Ants have descended upon St. Louis in droves due to the incredible amount of rain we are having. When their little underground lairs get flooded out, guess where they go.

Bosnian President Dr.Haris Silajdžić in St. Louis last nightThe Three Musketeers or the Three Stooges? You decide.

Comments

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slackwrdave # Sunday, June 1, 2008 3:31:13 AM

Dayumm!

Robert Hurleyrfhurley # Sunday, June 1, 2008 5:18:04 AM

OMG! They ate your MOUSE!!!

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Sunday, June 1, 2008 10:45:47 AM

Well, ants aren't that bad. They do their own business without disturbing much. It is much worse with mosquitos (they sting and carry diseases) or cockroaches that come out at night to go eating your food and vomit/poop on it (they also eat each other vomit poop and that is the way poisoned baits work).

Naomi CultureSurfer # Sunday, June 1, 2008 1:21:45 PM

Trust me, it's NASTY! But Lorenzo, you are right, roaches are definitely worse. Thanks for the little science lessons.

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Sunday, June 1, 2008 1:41:27 PM

Richardmusickna # Sunday, June 1, 2008 7:42:34 PM

Oooooh. Creepy!

Lovely lunch Naomi. Pics up.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Sunday, June 1, 2008 7:52:37 PM

The ant's lunch or our lunch?

Can't wait to see who we get to meet next!

Saw the blog, will get the pics on mine later today. Thanks.

Torkel Freedlekrot # Sunday, June 1, 2008 10:00:48 PM

Delicious, my grandfather would have said, he ate ants on swedish knäckebröd http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Knaeckebroed.jpg/180px-Knaeckebroed.jpg

He claimed it was good for health.

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Sunday, June 1, 2008 10:40:57 PM

@ Hurley. LMAO.

@ Lorenzo. But what about the killer bees? Let's not forget about the killer bees!

@ Naomi. Time to get out the ole shotgun.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:35:42 AM

We thought about just torching the kitchen but our insurance wouldn't cover the cost to build a new kitchen if it were arson.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:36:21 AM

@ Lek rot
Well, that's just gross.

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:42:53 AM

You mean the insurance people won't accept the "we were setting fire to ants" explanation? What's this world coming to?

Robert Hurleyrfhurley # Monday, June 2, 2008 4:31:12 AM

Killer bees? I'd completely forgotten about the Killer Bees. Whatever happened to them, anyway?

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Monday, June 2, 2008 7:44:51 AM

There aren't killer bees here. But we are importing a lot of strange animals from Asia onboard of ships. For example many rivers in Germany have been colonized by countless asian crabs and here in Italy several species of trees are dieing because of alien insects. Recently it came in the news that in some areas mosquitos started spreading tropical diseases and this is alarming.

Oh, then there are fishes and turtles.
Now it is forbidden but once they were selling american turtles for home aquariums. Those turtles grow big and then you have to take care of them so some people released them in ponds and parks.
In the bigger rivers in the north there is this fish:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/EuropeseMeervalLucasVanDerGeest.jpg/260px-EuropeseMeervalLucasVanDerGeest.jpg - imported in the '60s from east europe for artificial pond fishing. Released in the wild, it is predating the already rare local species.

Finally, there are also furry creatures from south America:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Nutriyya-haHula-ISRAEL.JPG/220px-Nutriyya-haHula-ISRAEL.JPG - that were breeded for the fur and were accidentally released and now live in big numbers on the river banks, making them collapse because they dig deep holes.

Matthewnoah counte # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:24:03 PM

Your description didn't do the infestation justice, Naomi.

Are they expected to retreat when the water table retreats to a more normal level?

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:42:13 PM

Well, you know, we were eating lunch & I didn't want to make anyone toss their cookies.

I can't imagine the little bastards will be retreating in the near future as the forecast is calling for rain, rain, and more rain.

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Monday, June 2, 2008 12:56:44 PM

They won't retreat if they made their home in some corner of your house. I had two nests in the electrical power lines in walls. You can use the poisoned baits again. They are small boxes that attract the ants, they take the stuff from inside the little box and bring it back to the nest where it poisons the whole colony. It takes some time then because they are millions.

What I would not do for sure is to use insect killer spray or powder in the kitchen due to probable food and tools contamination.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 4:52:39 PM

Thanks for the info.

Phantom2 # Monday, June 2, 2008 8:00:07 PM

You could always start an Ant Farm and report on "The Culture of the Ant World"

I think some of us could learn a lot about getting along with each other and work ethics from them.

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Monday, June 2, 2008 8:05:58 PM

There isn't much to learn from ants. The lesson is the individual values nothing compared to the colony as a whole. Ants are like our body cells, each type specialized for some function. They are produced, complete their function and die, generation after generation.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:30:40 PM

Lessons we have learned from our ants:

a) Cooperation is key to an invasion.
b) Always pick up your dead buddies to take them back home (for a midnight snack).
c) If one path is obstructed, find another one.
d) Conformity is a sure route to death. In the short run, you get ahead but in the short run, you die.
e) There is nothing such as a free lunch.If it is free, it's probably laced with poison.

Phantom2 # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:34:49 PM

*scribbles notes*

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:37:04 PM

Hey P2-Your new avatar is, well, vibrant.

Nice to see you here.

Phantom2 # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:40:05 PM

It's called to much Greek Wine!

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:42:51 PM

Looks more like some acid.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:47:06 PM

No, the acid is what the ants are eating. Not the fun kind, either.

@rfhurley-The ants in the pic are on the boric acid baits, not my mouse (ick!!!)btw.

Go easy on the ouzo, P2.

Phantom2 # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:49:29 PM

It will soon be Bordeaux!

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Monday, June 2, 2008 9:54:00 PM

I was thinking when I first saw it that it was kind of an unusual mouse pad. I kept trying to read the writing.

Martin Ouellettemartinouellette # Monday, June 2, 2008 10:03:15 PM

Cute little things...

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 10:03:22 PM

It reads "place terro here" in English and Spanish for literate, bilingual ants.

P2-I guess I'll live vicariously through you since I am sitting here in gray, rainy, allergy-ridden, ant-ridden St. Louis.

Phantom2 # Monday, June 2, 2008 10:14:58 PM

BTW ...you might want to try something we use down south for little ants that show up in the kitchen...Spray Lysol where you see them coming in. Seems they won't cross the path of the spray. I'm assuming these aren't "Fire Ants"

Naomi CultureSurfer # Monday, June 2, 2008 10:17:01 PM

Nope, not fire ants. Thanks for the tip.

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Monday, June 2, 2008 10:36:31 PM

When I was a kid I used to make this "ant killer" stuff. Which was primarily mouthwash with a little toothpaste thrown in. And whatever else I could think of. None of which were deadly subtances. But as it turns out, ants can't swim very well.

That was before I developed my whole "live and let live" philosophy towards the insect kingdom. Roaches excepted, of course. It's open season on roaches.

You know, here in Spokane we don't have hardly any insect problems. Roaches are rare, ants infrequent. Very few beetles or spiders wander inside. Some ladybugs -- but they're welcome as far as I'm concerned. Even flies don't seem as numerous here. And no scorpions. In fact I think Spokane should advertise. "Come to Beautiful Insect-Free Spokane!"

Naomi CultureSurfer # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 2:36:34 AM

I am usually into live and let live, even with spiders, but once they infringe upon my cooking surfaces, it's survival of the fittest.

Edward Piercyedwardpiercy # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 2:40:15 AM

I quite understand that one. I would do the same thing if my desk were invaded. Or my bed.

daxonmacs # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 7:35:42 PM

That's a lot of ants naomi.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:35:40 PM

It was seriously disgusting. Ick! Jeff was like the guy in "Ghostbusters," with a big vacuum cleaner sucking up wayward ants. lol

DavidRavo # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:45:54 PM

They look at lot like the Bullet ants I encountered in Costa Rica--so named because if they bite you, you feel like it was a gunshot!!!

Naomi CultureSurfer # Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:56:05 PM

No, these are little guys that don't bite. That sounds pretty nasty, though. Thanks for sharing.

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 7:04:51 AM

Like I said, among the insects ants are the less annoying.
You try leaving some food in the trash during summer and wait till the eggs of flies disclose. The poor ants try to take your trash away instead.

slackwrdave # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 9:11:26 PM

Burn the place down and tell the fire inspector the fire ants did it.

Naomi CultureSurfer # Wednesday, June 4, 2008 9:17:35 PM

Matthewnoah counte # Thursday, June 5, 2008 6:45:53 PM

Fire ants - the scourge of St. Louis!

Naomi CultureSurfer # Thursday, June 5, 2008 9:42:01 PM

At least we don't have ants in our pants and trust me, there are other scourges here in St. Louis.

Matthewnoah counte # Thursday, June 5, 2008 11:43:39 PM

Heh. I'm sure that's true!

Pants, as a general rule, should be ants-free.