Wasn't paying attention and had a close call this afternoon.

[NoBanStan]

That tarantula wasp reminds me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QyzPUDcgM8 Edited August 3, 2013 by NoBanStan

[peejman]

Saw a tarantula hawk wasp once while visiting New Mexico. If you haven't seen one in person the thing sounds like a chopper flying over if you're close enough. If you don't like bees or wasps, don't google it. You've been warned.

So I googled it. Holy crap!!!!

[Clod Stomper]

Yipes! I've heard them fire ants hurt like hell on TV programs.

I sure wasn't aware fire ants have moved this far up North. I've noticed all the dead armadillo on the side of the road that have finally made it up here to NW Tennessee.

Anyone know how far North in Tennessee they've made it?

They've made it as far as Blount Co here in ETN. I have yet to see any in Knox yet. I suspect that as we move out of this warm cycle, they'll gradually retreat back south. After that particularly cold winter we had ('10-'11 maybe?), I didn't see any in Monroe Co until near the end of summer.

[East_TN_Patriot]

I spent 8 years in Florida and you quickly learn to watch for fire ants. One time we were working a hit & run traffic crash. The car rolled over and the driver was unconscious for a few minutes. The car landed on a huge fire ant mound and the left side of his face laid on that mound (we could see what looked like a face and ear impression in the dirt). When we found the guy later, the entire side of his face was covered with dozens of ant bites and was very swollen. Another time a fellow officer stopped a guy and had him handcuffed on the shoulder of the road for DUI. After a couple of minutes,he started jumping around and said, "Sir,I know you said not to move, but ants are biting my nuts!"

Those little buggers are nasty!

[TMF]

I spent 8 years in Florida and you quickly learn to watch for fire ants. One time we were working a hit & run traffic crash. The car rolled over and the driver was unconscious for a few minutes. The car landed on a huge fire ant mound and the left side of his face laid on that mound (we could see what looked like a face and ear impression in the dirt). When we found the guy later, the entire side of his face was covered with dozens of ant bites and was very swollen. Another time a fellow officer stopped a guy and had him handcuffed on the shoulder of the road for DUI. After a couple of minutes,he started jumping around and said, "Sir,I know you said not to move, but ants are biting my nuts!"


Those little buggers are nasty!

Yeah, they're no joke down there either. I found out the hard way as a kid that they are amphibious. We were hit by a hurricane or tropical storm and the streets in the neighborhood flooded, so of course, as soon as the band passed over and it died down a bit we went outside to swim in the flooded streets (about 2-3ft). About 5 minutes or so into it I realized I was being bit, then I realized they were all over my torso. As I'm smacking these little monsters on me I noticed that there were hundreds of them, all around me, just floating on the surface. It was like Sharknado, only with ants instead of sharks and a hurricane instead of a tornado.... and better production budget.

[RichardR]

Yipes! I've heard them fire ants hurt like hell on TV programs.

I sure wasn't aware fire ants have moved this far up North. I've noticed all the dead armadillo on the side of the road that have finally made it up here to NW Tennessee.

Anyone know how far North in Tennessee they've made it?

I'm about an hour north of Memphis & the little buggers are everywhere around here, I hit a big nest of them with my weedwacker and they came bubbling to the surface just like I had struck oil, never seen so many ants in my life as what came out of that nest.

I hit the nest with a water hose, soaked it up real good & soft then stomped it down as hard as I could then set several poison ant baits down around it to kill off any survivors.

The buggers did manage to get me a couple times but thankfully I'm not alergic to their stings but they sure do hurt like heck though.

I see armadillos all of the time as well, are they also an invasive species?

[gun sane]

We came from Texas where fire ants get all over you like Santa Ana's army.  I thought they wouldn't venture this far north, but when I saw my first mound I knew it was gonna be more of the same.  Ortho's Orthene killer works best.

[Oh Shoot]

....I see armadillos all of the time as well, are they also an invasive species?

 

TWRA only seems to lists four as "invasive"

 

"Species not protected by law

 

The following species are not protected by law because they are non-native invasive populations with potential to damage property, pose a human health risk, and have detrimental effects on native wildlife.

      House (English) Sparrow
      European Starling
      Rock Pigeon
      Nutria

 

Species deemed destructive

 

The following species are deemed destructive to property and may pose a safety or health risk to people, livestock, and other native wildlife.

           Wild Hog

 

http://www.tn.gov/twra/nonprotected.shtml

 

Interesting though that the "Non-Protected" and "destructive" hog is actually de facto protected by their restrictive policy on actually shooting them.

 

- OS

Edited August 4, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[mav]

I think I must be allergic to bee stings.  After getting stung again Sunday, my arm is still swollen, red, and itches like crazy at times.  I have also had some light dizziness since yesterday.  Oh well.  I guess I will buy an extractor kit and start wearing long sleeve shirts when mowing.

[mikegideon]

I think I must be allergic to bee stings.  After getting stung again Sunday, my arm is still swollen, red, and itches like crazy at times.  I have also had some light dizziness since yesterday.  Oh well.  I guess I will buy an extractor kit and start wearing long sleeve shirts when mowing.

 

Did you pop some Benadryl? I try to keep some around for stuff like this.

[Dennis1209]

I think I must be allergic to bee stings.  After getting stung again Sunday, my arm is still swollen, red, and itches like crazy at times.  I have also had some light dizziness since yesterday.  Oh well.  I guess I will buy an extractor kit and start wearing long sleeve shirts when mowing.

 

My metabolism has changes over the years too. In my younger years I had a job that I got stung by wasps 3-10 times a day and it didn't physically affect me except for the initial pain.

 

Now, when I get stung by a wasp it's a three day affair with pain, swelling and itching. Same with poison ivy, oak and sumac... Used to be able to wipe with it in my military years, now if I look to hard at it, it's a case of the chalky pink stuff.

[Oh Shoot]

My metabolism has changes over the years too. I...

 

I was never allergic to anything until one day at about 35 I woke up one Labor Day morning with my eyes swelled shut. Ragweed. Until then never even a sniffle from it.

 

- OS

[Raoul]

Did you pop some Benadryl? I try to keep some around for stuff like this.

Yeah I really like benadryl.

I used to pay to feel like that in the 70's.

[peejman]

They make a topical Benadryl gel that works quite well. Same basic effect minus the sleepiness.

[Oh Shoot]

Yeah I really like benadryl.

I used to pay to feel like that in the 70's.

 

I keep them around for the occasional sleep aid. None of the euphoria of Quaaludes on me, though.

 

- OS

[mikegideon]

I keep them around for the occasional sleep aid. None of the euphoria of Quaaludes on me, though.

 

- OS

 

None of the car wrecks either :)

[mav]

I took a couple of Benadryl yesterday and today.  I think my left arm has just went through too much this past month.  About 20 something days ago I got absolutely nailed by a yellow jacket.  Then I got a rash from poison ivy/oak a week or so later.  Sunday I got stung again, and this was a mild sting.  I think the redness, pain, and the swelling was just my arm saying, "Dammit man, stop this s***.  I can only take so much."

[peejman]

I took a couple of Benadryl yesterday and today.  I think my left arm has just went through too much this past month.  About 20 something days ago I got absolutely nailed by a yellow jacket.  Then I got a rash from poison ivy/oak a week or so later.  Sunday I got stung again, and this was a mild sting.  I think the redness, pain, and the swelling was just my arm saying, "Dammit man, stop this s***.  I can only take so much."

 

 

Home ownership is great, ain't it?   :)

[bigbabysweets]

I had a teacher in middle school get messed up by ants. She was hunting in a stand and somehow managed to fall out and land unconsciously into a fire ant mound. I forget how she got to the hospital, but she had a thousand or so bites.