4 ms·

I stepped about knee deep into a fire ant mound when I was 8 in Florida. I thought I was going to die. I've never seen something swarm quite that fast.

inetknght 9y ago
the mound just collapsed around your foot and you sank in?
- saidajigumi 9y ago
  Accidentally stepping in or standing on a fire ant mound is a terrible rite of passage for kids in Florida. Even if you just step on one, which when inactive can look like just another a patch of sand, those little bastards swarm out crazy fast. They'll easily be halfway up your leg before you realize what's happening. One moment, you're tossing a ball or frisbee with friends and waiting for the next throw, the next: horrible child screaming.
  - blantonl 9y ago
    They actually swarm first without biting and then once they get a critical mass covered they chemically send a command to all bite at once. I’m not kidding.
    - spyhi 9y ago
      I lived in Texas for a while and we had fire ants on our property every so often. One time I was taking out the trash, and a lone ant got on my hand, but was just wandering around aimlessly. I watched it for probably a full two minutes, and then completely out of the blue it decided to bite me. Only years later did I learn that the behavior you mentioned is what I was seeing.
    - odammit 9y ago
      So they are evil incarnate. I had them in an extremely large mound by another house I lived in as an adult. I tossed a handle of 151 into it and lit it on fire. Payback.
      - clort 9y ago
        > So they are evil incarnate. No, they are just insects defending their hive. Evil incarnate would cause torment for no reason?
        benjaminl 9y ago
        You could be sitting on the ground minding your own business, not hear a hive and one will climb on you and start bitting. Does that count for causing torment for no reason? That is one of the many reasons why it is unusual to sit directly on the ground in Florida without something like a picnic blanket.
        clort 9y ago
        Not really, because there is still a hive nearby which they are protecting. You are a potential predator that they are trying to move on. They might be a nuisance. Indeed, they might be a invasive and dangerous nuisance which we need to be exterminated, but that does not make them evil, and neither does it require glee to carry out that task. They are ants is all. They have, in evolutionary terms, found and developed a niche for themselves just as we have.
        Aardwolf 9y ago
        It's instincts, it does not have brain capacity to think "ha ha ha a human! Let's be evil and ruin their picnic". Probably instead what happens is while crawling around it detects the surface it crawled on is actually the body of a large living entity, so going into defense mode is one possible response. Not sure if in this case it's because it may make you move to get free if stuck under you, or chase away possible threats to nest, or because possible food source?
    - liberte82 9y ago
      Jesus christ. As much as I hate the cold, I'll stick with snowstorms and blizzards over this stuff.
    - dheera 9y ago
      I'm pretty sure it's motion that triggers them to sting at once. Chemical signals just draw more ants.
    - mythrwy 9y ago
      Yes. Some old timers call them "whistle ants". Because (as I was told) once they are all on and in position one of them blows a whistle to signal "start stinging".
- odammit 9y ago
  I was running around in a field of about waist deep grass. Didn't even see it until my foot was coming out shoe filled with the little bastards.
Jemmeh 9y ago
Same to me around that age, though I was in the Philippines. I spent the rest of the day with my legs under the water hose (it alleviated some of the pain) just crying. I'm mildly allergic to ants too. These pictures of floating ants are terrifying.

inetknght 9y ago

the mound just collapsed around your foot and you sank in?

saidajigumi 9y ago
Accidentally stepping in or standing on a fire ant mound is a terrible rite of passage for kids in Florida. Even if you just step on one, which when inactive can look like just another a patch of sand, those little bastards swarm out crazy fast. They'll easily be halfway up your leg before you realize what's happening. One moment, you're tossing a ball or frisbee with friends and waiting for the next throw, the next: horrible child screaming.
- blantonl 9y ago
  They actually swarm first without biting and then once they get a critical mass covered they chemically send a command to all bite at once. I’m not kidding.
  - spyhi 9y ago
    I lived in Texas for a while and we had fire ants on our property every so often. One time I was taking out the trash, and a lone ant got on my hand, but was just wandering around aimlessly. I watched it for probably a full two minutes, and then completely out of the blue it decided to bite me. Only years later did I learn that the behavior you mentioned is what I was seeing.
  - odammit 9y ago
    So they are evil incarnate. I had them in an extremely large mound by another house I lived in as an adult. I tossed a handle of 151 into it and lit it on fire. Payback.
    - clort 9y ago
      > So they are evil incarnate. No, they are just insects defending their hive. Evil incarnate would cause torment for no reason?
      - benjaminl 9y ago
        You could be sitting on the ground minding your own business, not hear a hive and one will climb on you and start bitting. Does that count for causing torment for no reason? That is one of the many reasons why it is unusual to sit directly on the ground in Florida without something like a picnic blanket.
        clort 9y ago
        Not really, because there is still a hive nearby which they are protecting. You are a potential predator that they are trying to move on. They might be a nuisance. Indeed, they might be a invasive and dangerous nuisance which we need to be exterminated, but that does not make them evil, and neither does it require glee to carry out that task. They are ants is all. They have, in evolutionary terms, found and developed a niche for themselves just as we have.
        Aardwolf 9y ago
        It's instincts, it does not have brain capacity to think "ha ha ha a human! Let's be evil and ruin their picnic". Probably instead what happens is while crawling around it detects the surface it crawled on is actually the body of a large living entity, so going into defense mode is one possible response. Not sure if in this case it's because it may make you move to get free if stuck under you, or chase away possible threats to nest, or because possible food source?
  - liberte82 9y ago
    Jesus christ. As much as I hate the cold, I'll stick with snowstorms and blizzards over this stuff.
  - dheera 9y ago
    I'm pretty sure it's motion that triggers them to sting at once. Chemical signals just draw more ants.
  - mythrwy 9y ago
    Yes. Some old timers call them "whistle ants". Because (as I was told) once they are all on and in position one of them blows a whistle to signal "start stinging".
odammit 9y ago
I was running around in a field of about waist deep grass. Didn't even see it until my foot was coming out shoe filled with the little bastards.

Jemmeh 9y ago

Same to me around that age, though I was in the Philippines. I spent the rest of the day with my legs under the water hose (it alleviated some of the pain) just crying. I'm mildly allergic to ants too. These pictures of floating ants are terrifying.