Fire ants and you
When tales of the horrors of fire ants first started hitting the mass media in the 80′s, those of us in the Maritimes breathed a sigh of relief. Surely fire ants — and their similarly hyped insect cousins, the killer bees — would shy away from Canadian weather and continue tormenting shoeless hillbillies in the deep south, right?
My beautiful patch of Siberia appears to be immune so far, since the little bastards can’t tolerate heavy ground frost. Around here, the frost line is about 45 fathoms, so until Al Gore brings some of that sweet global warming our way, I think we’re safe from fire ants.
.:
August 28th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Actually, the climate isn’t warming in Atlantic Canada, but the little bastards are here anyway. The same little piles of sand that protrude out of sidewalk cracks in Florida are now appearing in my driveway. Except there’s more red in the piles the ants make here.
And we found a large colony of fire ants in Fossambault this summer, where winters (I thought) were similar to Edmonton’s.
Beware, Krankor.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
The article also mentions that the ants like a humid climate, which Edmonton surely is not. Dry enough to give you nosebleeds until you’re used to it, actually.
According to Google Maps, Fossambault is around the 46.85 degrees latitude, compared to Edmonton’s 53.59 — that’s pretty significant. Not sure how the weather compares, but I’d wager that it’s cold longer here even if the temperature range isn’t that different, with less precipitation.
So, they may make it here eventually, but you guys out east will be eaten first.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Ugh, fire ants are one of the banes of my existence. They’re rampant down here in Houston, and just last Thursday I was out weeding the garden when I happened to disturb a nest that was hidden away.
The little buggers were PISSED! I got bit by a few of them, and being that I’m extremely allergic to their bites, was in itchy discomfort the rest of the day.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Around these parts we have mosquitoes that could suck the Michelen Man dry in seconds, and every couple of summers we get enormous (but harmless) frickin’ spiders.
We do not have blackflies, earwigs, or fire ants. So living on the frozen tundra has some advantages.