Crazy Ants - I Think Not

Are the Crazy Ants really crazy? After watching them for some time, I think not! For several years now about 1/3 of our 1 acre yard has been covered with these little speedy fast ants that seem to be going nowhere or coming from nowhere. Constantly, from early morning until it get really hot in the afternoon, they scurry from here to there and anywhere. In the heat of the day, no ants. Then in the evening when things start cooling off, here they come again speeding from here to there to wherever. Sometimes it looks like the ground is moving there is so many of them. Recently, I read and heard that in Houston and surrounding areas and in Dallas people were experiencing a mass of ants called Crazy Ants. These were so bad, people were desperate to find a solution and fast. I am not sure if these are Crazy Ants but probably not and then maybe. Smarty Ants is a much better name for the little bugger. After trying anything and everything to get rid of them, giving up was the only option. If it kills them they don't eat it and spraying only get a few. It is like they are immune to everything and anything . Just thought maybe someone else had these ants and could shed some light on them.

Google, here we come! Home Depot, Lowe's and Ace had a variety of stuff to put on the ground but none of them had any effect on the number of ants. Finally, after spending quite a bit of money and not wanting poison all over the yard, I Quit! After all, this is the only ant that I have seen that doesn't bite or sting you. They do, however, crawl all over your feet and legs and are capable of making you do a wild stomp dance and scream "I am in a fire ant bed". Sporting around very long legs and antennas on a tiny little body really doesn't make them all that bad. They are about 1/8" long, a light brown top and black bo hiney. I still, after all these years, think I am going to get bit or stung but never do, just alot of stomping.

Why do I want to get rid of them? Not sure except they are annoying. This year the Mesquite Beans were so abundant on all the trees and so full and pretty around our yard. I started reading to see if there was anything that could be done with Mesquite Beans. Mesquite Beans on the barbecue fire make for some mighty tasty barbecue no matter what you cook. The beans smell wonderful themselves on the coals. Other things that can be done with Mesquite Beans are making flour, syrup, jelly. Having already tried the Prickly Pear Jelly and loving it, Mesquite Bean flour, jelly and syrup sounded very yummy and good for you. Directions said, harvest the beans from the tree, free of ant and insect holes and pesticides. Never pick up beans that have fallen off the tree. Good Luck with that, these tiny little Smarty Ants attack the beans on the tree. Ok, as harmless as they are, they gotta go!

Finally, after much searching, enough ripe (no ants or bugs) Mesquite Beans were gathered to make 5 pounds of flour. Since drying in the oven was suggested several times, I decided if I happened to include a bean with an ant hole, it would not be catastrophe, after all some ants are editable. How many weevils happened to make their way into a batch of homemade biscuits Grandma baked. Don't think anyone died from them. The Mesquite Bean flour is wonderful. It has a nutty, malty, sweet taste. My pancakes tasted so sweet, there was no real need for syrup. Yummy! No wonder the ants like them.

Today, should have been a productive day since it was much cooler here in far West Texas but I decided to take the day to study the habits of the Crazy Ants or Smarty ants. Why not just make a daily diary. Everyone needs a no nothing day to do something crazy. Crazy is as Crazy does. Who is really crazy, the ants or the Crazy Lady raising them. Poison is not something I want pets and Grandchildren playing in so maybe that is the reason there are millions of ants in the yard. A friend sent me a list of 10 home made household concoctions for getting rid of ants, like, baby powder, hot water, corn meal, malt o meal, boric acid, bacon soda, tobacco juice. Well, none of these worked. If it will kill them they don't eat it - Smarty Ants. Who then is really the Crazy one - definitely not the Smarty Ants.

If you might have the same ants and have any suggestions feel free to send them along. My daily dairy starts today.

Day 1

First, I gathered some empty plastic peanut butter and coffee containers. These, I thought would be great collection containers. Since I had ground my Mesquite Beans, I had a baggie full of the seeds and hulls (these don't grind up). In a paper cup I put a handful of the seeds and hulls and a dab of one of the ant killer powders just to be sure they didn't like it. Dumping it in a pile would allow me to know exactly where it was. To my surprise here they came from all directions only to get right to the edge of the pile and turn immediately around. If it will kill them, they will not tough it - Smarty Ants. Crazy Lady decided to collect a few and just see exactly what they would do. An ant farm! Again, in a paper cup, I put seeds and hulls off the Mesquite beans without the poison this time and proceeded with the second pile. Yep, they came and they ate. Hundreds of them! The pile was black with ants in only a couple of minutes. When I grabbed the plastic container I left the lid on the table but thought surely they couldn't get out. Reaching down very quietly, I scooped up the ants, seeds, hulls - after all they don't bite. They are very, very, very fast and in minutes they were out of the container and all over my hands,arms, belly, feet. Crazy Lady! Yes, I threw the container, stomped, slapped and stood there and laughed at myself. Sure glad we live in the country and no one saw me. Try again and remember the lid. It worked great with a lid and I had a lot of ants.

Now, how would I get these Smarty Ants in a larger container. Rummaging through the storage building, a gallon glass jar caught my eye. See through and a tight fitting lid. The first thing I noticed was no matter which way the container was the ants were on the top. Should I hold it upside down and unscrew the lids and pour them in. Sounds good but these are the fastest ants I have ever seen and they go down and fast as they go up. Again, I lost most of the ants.

After several attempts scooping them up, slapping on the lid and watching them, I noticed that they can't crawl up the sides of the plastic containers with some of this good old West Texas dusty dirt on them. Now, I could open the lid and not get ants all over me. Several things were tried to see what attracted them more. Those were seed and hulls from mesquite beans, bread with mesquite flour, corn bread crumbs and ham and cheese off my sandwich. Ham and cheese was the winner. I have noticed that they eat all the dead insects, lizards, birds. Then maybe all ants prefer meat. The glass jar ant farm was coming along.

The question is still, are the ants Crazy Ants. My husband, upon arriving home from work and no supper cooked said that there was only one Crazy. After trying to explain that every scientist has to start some where, he explained that cooking is sort of like experimenting.

After our quick supper, we went to check the ant farm and he suggested trying to find a solution to the problem not make pets out of them. The suggestion from him was to put some ants in several small containers and try different thing to see if something might work. Ok, tomorrow is another day. We both noticed that some of the ants that we put in an instant coffer container with a little coffee left in it were not doing so well. Could coffee be the answer? It will be a fun thing for the Grandkids to do when they come down for about 2 minutes. Fun day!

Crazy Ants - I don't think so. These little ants never quit. If humans worked as hard as ants, we would have a nicer world. Well, who wants to live in a hole in the ground anyway.

Have any good ideas how to get rid of these or know the name of these little buggers please let me know.

Ever wonder how many ants will fit in a gallon jug?
Millions

Ever wonder how many ants are scurrying around?
Billions, Trillions, Gazillions

Thanks for reading!