I truly know that we need all the rain we can get up here, and yes, it's nice that all the ponds are filled again. But honestly, do we need more fire ant mounds? With the rain comes the countless mounds of dirt that the ever-industrious fire ants build above ground level. Those ants must work 24 hours of every blessed day in order to move so much dirt.
If you're lucky, you will see the mounds before you step on them. But sometimes, those mounds are more horizontal than vertical, and then you can barely see them unless the grass is cut very low and you happen to be looking down as you're walking. That sort of walking is a country trick--- looking down for fire ants while looking ahead for spider webs and also looking up for snakes that may happen to be stretched out on a tree branch. (My husband says I'm always 'looking for trouble.' Well, that may be, but I'd rather see the trouble ahead and get away from it before the trouble finds me.)
We read an article on the Internet that said plain old cornstarch will kill fire ants. We tried that, and yes, it eventually did kill those ants, but it took a while. If you're patient enough, I guess enough cornstarch will kill any sort of crawling insect, but nothing beats a good shot of Raid spray. Psssssst! You're dead! The Raid works that quickly.
I've tried to be extra careful when I'm out walking Savannah... she loves the tall grass and so far, that puppy has either stepped around or jumped over fire ant mounds. There was one morning when one of her back paws got too close to a mound and within a heart-beat, she had at least 25 ants on her paw and crawling up her leg. Savannah jumped out of that grass and stood on the road and just looked at me helplessly. I quickly took one of the plastic bags that I carry for pooper-scooping and put that bag over my right hand and then brushed the ants off of her leg. That seemed to work just fine, without me getting bitten by the ants. (I am allergic to those bites.)
The two outside cats never seem to get into the fire ants, thank goodness. I'd never find the ants on Mickey because he's solid black and the ants could quickly get lost in his fur. As for Gatsby, he's like the Cowardly Lion and he just stays away from everything unless it's in his food dish.
Our weather has been warm, which is fine with me. We've had a few cool nights and even cooler early mornings, but nothing that had me running for boots, gloves and a scarf. Speaking of boots, I need to find some warm fur-lined boots for cold-weather walking with Savannah. I have two pairs of dress boots, but I don't want to be using those to walk in the tall grass looking to pick up Savannah's poop.
When I told my husband that I was going to buy a pair of puppy-walking boots, he asked me why I couldn't just wear the boots that I have. "Those are dress boots to wear with my good jeans," I told him.
"What are you saving the good boots for?" he asked.
"I'm saving them for when we come to our senses and move back to civilization," was my answer.
He gave me that look. Men just don't understand certain things, with women's shoes being near the top of that list.
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