Fire Ants

As much as I love living in Florida there is one minor nuisance here that I'd just as soon live without - fire ants.

Tuesday night while returning from the baseball game in Fort Myers I had to answer mother nature's bugling call and did so by exiting I-75 and looking for a place to step off the road. I found such a place and instantly on stepping from the concrete verge of the road wished that I had not because at the same instant my right foot was on fire from a barrage of attacking fire ants.

Unlike most ants, fire ants inject their victims with a poison that makes your skin feel like its on fire - hence their name. You can learn more about them at this link.

Tearing off my shoes had no immediate positive effect but it allowed me to scratch like crazy on the affected part of my foot. Wednesday morning my foot had 21 little white pustules that erupted at the point of each fire ant bite.

As I learned last year the pain lasts for a damned long time and right now my right foot looks like hamburger. The only way to avoid fire ants is to not step on them (duh!) but in the middle of the night that is a tad difficult. I guess you just have to grimace and bear it with these little suckers.