Moose Droppings

Fire Ants Invasion Continues

Apr 04, 2007 @ 09:52 pm by Moose

NC State University/ NC Cooperative Extension

At any given time I have 4 or 5 topics for blog posts floating through my head and how they end
up here is often something in my day brings it to the top. So today I stumbled across a blog The Native North Carolinian and saw the post about the Fire Ants.

Fire Ants are invasive specie that has exploded across much of the southern United States. Fire ants despite being a bothersome creature to us have also have had a negative impact on native wildlife. Many believe that fire ants are partial to blame for the serious decline in quail populations. The impact on deer fawns and turkey poults have been noted in a few studies. Fawns often if born in and area with Fire Ants will remain motionless while the ants attack. It’s not unusual for the attack to cause the fawn to become blind or to increase the risk that the fawn will be discovered by a more traditional predator like a coyote or a bear. Ground nesting birds like turkey, quail and waterfowl are also susceptible to fire ant attacks. The stings of a fire ant are extremely painful and usually the victim has multiple stings and in a small percentage of stings deaths to humans can result from an allergic reaction.

Fire ants are not something to mess with so be careful where you sit this turkey season. Also if you plan to move plant material from an affected area to another area please follow the rules so you don’t help the ants to advance any faster.

Now do stop by and check out The Native North Carolinian they do have more then just stories about pests. They are trying to build up a blogroll for blogs from this great state.