rod Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 It as taken me a while to get this posted. On our way home Easter Sunday, we managed to make a slight detour to try an area that a friend had told me about. When we arrived, I wasn't really impressed, but had driven out there, so I thought I'd give it a chance. Once on site, I quickly realized that he had failed to mention the site was literally a mine field of fire ants! I must say, fighting fire ants to collect isn't that much fun, but bringing home these couple fossils made it not hurt so bad..... - Rod - ROD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Fire ants suck, but that ammonite would be worth a few stings to me. Sweet! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 love the ammonite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Very nice finds! I agree...finding those would be worth a few stings to me as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TourmalineGuy Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I feel your pain with the fire ants. When I was in the Peace River last week floating fire ants would end up on my legs and bite me, apparently washed off the banks upriver. Luckily I only had to contend with one every ten minutes or so. Awesome finds and great name. -Roddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 On my first trip to Florida I learned you can't just plop on the grass without looking first. I've seen velvet ants too. I feel your pain with the fire ants. When I was in the Peace River last week floating fire ants would end up on my legs and bite me, apparently washed off the banks upriver. Luckily I only had to contend with one every ten minutes or so. Awesome finds and great name. -Roddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 On my first trip to Florida I learned you can't just plop on the grass without looking first. I've seen velvet ants too. Ah yes, velvet ants, or as we call them here in NC cow killers. They are actually wingless wasps, not ants. Mean looking solitary creatures, they are rather common here and I have heard they pack a mean wallop if they sting you. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) When I first moved to Florida I had never heard of fire ants. My first experience with them resulted in them getting the better of me big time. It was late... dark...I knocked a small sand hill flat and threw my sleeping bag over it <I can hear the groans already from people familiar with fire ants>... moseyed over to the fire to drink another beer or three. Well, about five minutes after I got into the sleeping bag I had a creepy sensation like something was crawling on me... so I pulled my arm out and it was covered in ants, which I immediately started to brush off. Who knew the little ###### could communicate with one another? Because at that moment I started getting bit all over my body. By the time the battle was over I was bit - literally- hundreds of times. Was sick from it for almost a week.... At any rate, since that day I have waged serious war on fire ants - killing as many as I can and going out of my way to knock down their mounds if I see one. Now all of you know why...... Edited April 25, 2012 by Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Fire ants seem to be in the decline here in Texas. When I first arrived here in 89, they were everywhere, killing wildlife and ranch animals.I rarely encounter them these days, thank God. In my father's time, horned toads were common in Texas but in all my travels I have yet to see one. A fossil hunter friend of mine told me that a lot of people feel fire ants are to blame for their rapid decrease in numbers. I can believe that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traviscounty Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I heard that about the horned toads, but I have seen a couple over the last couple of years. Not near as many as when I was a kid. I also heard the fire ants were to blame for the decline in the quail population. All I know is fire ants suck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilman01 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Nice ammonite.Yes we have those in Montana too and I see them here in Oregon.....I just deal with them,as I did the wood ticks in North Dakota..........LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Hey Travis! I stuck my knee in a mound of fire ants two years ago in Round Rock, but that was the first encounter I'd had with them in years. They are around, just not as plentiful. As a huge nature lover, I would love to see a horned toad. I never have! I see anoles and spiny lizards fairly often, as well as newts and salamanders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyB Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 (edited) fire ants are to blame for the decline of many species as they eat just about everything, and i mean everything. Have you noticed that bug populations have declined as well. Thats the foodchain for many of the above mentioned critters. No food no critters. Edited April 25, 2012 by TroyB Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyB Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 You want to find horned toads look for a climate that is nearly desert with the large red harvester ant hills around. They love those red harvester ants. These ant hills can also be a great place to see if fossils are around the area as the ants carry the small ones to the surface and deposit them on their hills. I see a fair amount of these hornytoads in central/west Texas. Tankman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Nice ammonite.Yes we have those in Montana too and I see them here in Oregon.....I just deal with them,as I did the wood ticks in North Dakota..........LOL never heard of fire ants in Montana or Oregon, thought the winters were way to harsh for them. Here in NC we have them on the coast bad, but as you go inland they become less and less of a problem because of the colder winters Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobC Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Coming from upstate NY, trust me I never heard of them either! My first experience with fire ants after moving to Austin was chasing an errant tennis ball which had fallen into a fire ant mound. I stuck my hand right in, thinking nothing of it since ants in NY are harmless. Can you guess the ending of this story? Needless to say, everyone on the court was laughing at me! Troy I am starting to see those large red ants again--even in Shoal Creek here in Austin. They seem like a relief. maybe the horn toads will at some point follow. I would love to see one before I cash out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Your native red ants are your best allies against the invasive fire ants; a lot of folks across the south shot themselves in the foot (so to speak) with indiscriminate poisoning. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Yep, love the ammonite--quite a nice find! We've been fortunate down here of late and have not seen any fire ants in the yard in over a year....Used to be a daily bite or two or three was just part of gardening in the back yard. We had an unsually cold winter year before last and I think they just couldnt handle the extended below freezing weather we had in this part of Florida! Continued collecting success without the ants! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I love those finds, very interesting. Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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