Disturbing Fire Ant Mounds Documentary

Video: Disturbing Fire Ant Mounds Documentary

Danger of disturbing a fire ants mound mini-documentary. It's not the big red imported fire ant mounds that will get you - those are obviously avoided - its the small fire ant colonies migrating to start a new colony that will catch people by surprise and put the bite on. These migrating ants are exceptionally aggressive and will bite like crazy. This often happens after a number of mounds are treated with poison bait and the survivors move to start new colonies. You just barely have to touch these new nest (not yet a mound) to gets hundreds of ants swarming almost immediately.

Video of fire ant colony on the move in the Florida Backyard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O99Rp3Ci7RA

For more info:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/red_imported_fire_ant.htm

http://articles.extension.org/pages/11124/fire-ant-stings

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Disturbing Fire Ant Mounds Documentary

Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Video: Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Possum attacked by fire ants - Ouch! Virginia Possums common to the eastern US are immune to Rattlesnake and Cottonmouth bites - they eat these snakes before they get real big and have developed immunity to snake venom and show no physiological reaction when bitten - but Fire Ant Venom still really hurts! A very large possum checking out some crumbs from food I left for a feral cat (see: The Secret Life of a Feral Cat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVPWvFW0Jwk for background ) is overwhelmed by fire ants and wisely retreats to lick its wounds. The old chewed up dog bone on the fence inexplicably appeared earlier in the night, probably found in a nearby yard and brought by a Raccoon! Night Vision recording so quality is a bit lower - looks better if you don't look at full screen.

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Video: Cute Possum Attacked by Fire Ants

Pseudo Scorpion or False Scorpion

Video: Pseudo Scorpion or False Scorpion

A nest of pseudo scorpions is uncovered when I replace a rotten board on the backyard fence. An amazing and extremely small creature in the arachnid family - it has scorpion like pincers, but no tail stinger. This is a new species for me. It is about 1/10 of an inch long and moves extremely fast and has a great "reverse gear". No doubt harmless and beneficial, unfortunately I disturbed its nest with several baby Pseudoscorpions or "Scorplings" which are white. The mother seems to display very strong maternal characteristics as she scrambles to check up on the youngsters. Amazingly, fire ants were on the move right next to their nest and even when exposed you can see the fire ants swerve quickly to miss the pseudo scorpion as they pass on the fence post. The fact that two incredibly small creatures can be approaching each other at a relative high speed and sense each other and react in a fraction of a second says something about the miracles of Nature that never cease to amaze!

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Video: Pseudo Scorpion or False Scorpion

Anole Lizards Eating Deadly Fire Ants

Video: Anole Lizards Eating Deadly Fire Ants

Video: Anole Lizards Eating Deadly Fire Ants

 Five Brown Anole Lizards feeding voraciously on venomous Fire Ants in the backyard. I'm not sure this phenomena has ever been filmed before. Amazingly the common, but invasive, Brown Anole Lizards living in the backyard have evolved to enjoy a treat of invasive fire ants, probably because they have been around together for many years now. The YT videos of fire ants eating lizards are all staged for shock value with dead lizards that people have probably killed and thrown on the ants, and of course the ants eat all the lizards. But lizards can take care of themselves if left alone. I  Recently treated for fire ants which causes the colony to break up into little ones from the survivors - I picked up a palmetto branch and a small colony of fire ants with eggs and winged adults was hiding under the branch. I went to get some bug spray and by the time I came back a group of lizards were literally feasting on the eggs. I got my camera set up and they continued to feast on mostly the winged fire ants and stood right among them. This would normally be hard to see as the lizards almost blend in with the ground and this kind of action probably goes unnoticed. "Adventure is as near as the backyard"

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Video: Anole Lizards Eating Deadly Fire Ants

Video: Anole Lizards Eating Deadly Fire Ants