A fire ant crawled up my pant leg and bit me right on my

[Jamastiene]

ass cheek this evening while I was working in the yard. I stripped my pants off before I even got inside the house. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed watching me waddle up the ramp with my pants around my ankles. I washed it and put an ice cube on it, but it still burns and stings. Now, every time I move I feel a sharp stinging pain all over my left cheek.

Does this mean I officially have ants in my pants?

[MoseyWalker]

1. liar liar pants on fire!

oops. different story.

I guess the answer is yes

:hi:

[Jamastiene]

6. It still hurts.

That is not all either. Right before I gave up and came inside from defeat something (I couldn't see) fell on my face and started running all over my face and neck. I picked it off and threw it away while I shrieked and ran away.

Final Score:
Bugs 2
Jamastiene 0

[idgiehkt]

2. I'm allergic

not in a kind of asphyxsiation way, but if I get stung by them, which I always did when I used to work a the office of my job, on my feet, then my foot will swell up twice it's normal size and the skin will get really hot and feel really tough like leather and it will stay this way for like three days. It's so weird because I never used to be this way until I moved to SC and then I guess I got an allergy to them or something. Now I'm rurnt. If I ever got stung more than a couple of times I'd probably be in trouble.

That sucks to get stung on your behind like that. I guess you might end up having to take some benadryl or something like that, to take the sting out and the swelling down. If you want to get rid of a nest in the ground I've always heard that instant grits are the best thing to use, just pour them down in there. Not very nice, for sure, but supposedly it kills them.

[Jamastiene]

3. Yep. It explodes their stomachs when they eat them.

Uncooked is the best way so when the grits get wet, poof, die little biting ant. :evilgrin: I'll be giving them some ants when I find them.

Also, ether with one of those tiny little straws on the can sprayed down into the nest will kill them too.

[Scooter24]

22. do they really explode? or just their stomachs?

That would have been a cool science project in middle school. lol

[Jamastiene]

30. I'm not sure, but the way I heard it:

Their stomach explode to such a big size that they explode too.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

4. i dont think benadryl witll affect fire ant bites.

because a fire ant actually burns you with acid.

[idgiehkt]

7. wow, I didn't know that

geez...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

21. actually i looked it up and i was wrong.

they actually inject a venom from the abdomen, unlike most ants who spill formic acid on you . ive been stung by fire ants at least once a year and always thought they burned with acid cause thats certainly what I might imagine that would feel like.

check this out though, according to wikipedia: "The venom is both insecticidal and antibiotic. Researchers have proposed that nurse workers will spray their brood to protect them from microorganisms."

Ants kick ass. I humbly bow to our insect underlords.

[Jamastiene]

33. Glad to know they are protected, but my poor ass...

Ouch!

I'm doing better now as far as my ass goes, but now I have a twisted muscle in my left wrist from the lopper whatyamacallits. It's even doing better now somewhat. Maybe I should rethink my "if I win the lottery" list to include paying someone else to landscape this yard instead of planning to do it myself. I sure hurt myself or get hurt by bugs every time I try. :shrug:

Thanks for the interesting info about the fire ants. You may not want to bow too closely to them in the area of my yard where I'll be working, because I'm gonna spray 'em in that area this weekend. :evilgrin:

[SlavesandBulldozers]

53. i know that lopperwrist feeling.

painful stuff. lopperwrist and antbitten ass, lol. you're a mess.

[Jamastiene]

9. Dayum, you mean my ass dropped acid

without me? I guess that is my body's way of letting me know I abused it too much when I was younger.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

18. lol.

beats having "spiders crawling all over" you though eh.

[Jamastiene]

31. Oh yeah, it sure does, but it makes me wonder.

Did my acid tripping ass cause me to hallucinate the spiders on my face? Hmm. That is some truly nteresting food for thought. You inspire my twisted warped mind. I like it when someone can do that.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

5. just wait till the itch kicks in.

that will be a funny sight. those things turn into a mighty itch about a day in.

[Jamastiene]

8. Should I also scratch my head and make monkey sounds

or just nervously announce that it's a bug bite on my ass when I scratch (for minimum embarrasment?) }(

[fudge stripe cookays]

23. There's this handcleaning stuff...

you used to be able to buy at the auto parts store called "GoJo." Years ago, my dad heard something about it working on fire ant bites, believe it or not.

I tried it a long time ago, and it worked pretty well! Might want to see if they still make it.

[Jamastiene]

32. My ass can smell like oranges. Hmm...nice.

I remember GoJo. I used to use it when I took Auto Technology in high school. We all used it, but I especially used it because I was always coated in grease.

I remember we had two auto tech teachers who used to tell the guys in the class they had better not dare make any comments about the two girls in the class. They took every opportunity to include us and even demonstrated how useful my small size could be.

They were working on a transmission and dropped a bolt into the thick black old transmission fluid. They had me fish my arm in there and drag the bolt out. Someone with bigger arms and hands couldn't have done that.

The guys began to respect us a little more once the teachers started pointing out that women could do anything we wanted if we decided we'd like to.

Strangest thing I remember was the scars all over the one teacher's chest from the Vietnam War. He was left handed and said the bullet shells were always popping out and hitting him the chest and they were hot so it left tons of scars. He was one soldier who was one of us. I miss him. Not even sure where he is now or if he is still teaching, but I really appreciated him and the other teacher including us. In junior high, I didn't have that great of an experience in industrial arts class, which was their fancy name for woodworking/metalworking class. The three girls in that class were made to feel like outsiders bigtime. The auto tech class was so 180 from that, thankfully. Your post made me remember a good memory from my teen years. Those were very rare. Thank you.

[Jamastiene]

10. kicking for more laughs.

:evilgrin:

[elocs]

11. I had one get into my shoe once when I was in Florida.

I saw recently on one of the nature channels of how they are using a wasp from the rain forest that is a natural enemy of the fire ant. When these fearless fire ants see the wasp they have the crap scared out of them. The wasps dive bomb the ants and inject an egg into their abdomens. The egg grows in the ant and the larva feed on it until its head falls off. The workers then drag the body just outside the nest where the wasp larva eventually work their way out. It was neat to watch it.

[Jamastiene]

35. Hmm, I have tons of wasps too...

and hornets. Got one of those on me Sunday, hornet that is.

I wonder if I have the same type of wasp. They sure don't seem to sting or bite. The hornets aren't so interested in coexisting though. They sting and get all up in my face every chance they get.

This yard is more like a jungle so the only way I am going to win the battle is to stay on it all fall. Maybe one day, I'll have a yard with grass instead of a jungle full of triffads.

[wildhorses]

12. say, you got ants in your pants ...

and you wanna dance:P

sorry about the bite, those buggers are nasty:hug:

[Jamastiene]

34. Oh yeah, they can take a big bite for such a small size.

I'm doing better now. The pus thing has come and gone and I'm applying grand ol' Neosporin. That sure is a wonder cream.

[Floogeldy]

13. No.

But you officially did give me ants in my pants.

Thanks alot.

;)

[Jamastiene]

36. You are quite welcome.

Anytime I can share the "ants in my pants" feeling, I like to make it quite effective. :evilgrin:

;)

[Ilsa]

14. I have found that a salve of baking soda and vinegar

seems to help draw the sting and itch out of bites like that. Both are cheap. Can't hurt.

I'm sorry you had ants in your pants.

[Jamastiene]

37. I'm doing better now.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will probably get bitten again as I have a long way to go in my jungle if I ever want to whip it into a yard one day. :hi:

[Ilsa]

49. I dare not traipsy into mine. Last time I got poison ivy, and it really

got me bad and caused hives. And I was COVERED UP! My SO and paid help will have to do the job.

[Jamastiene]

52. Sounds like you are extremely allergic to it.

One good thing I can say about my family's genes, or whatever it is, is that none of us are allergic to those. My mother lived in an orphanage as a kid and tried rolling around in poison ivy to avoid classes for a day or two. She was not affected at all. The other girls who did the same thing got very irritated and swollen, but my mother got nothing except a little dirty. I used to remove poison sumac and poison oak by hand with no gloves with no effects at all. We are lucky when it comes to the poisonous vines not affecting us at all.

The bugs, however, we swell up and get abrasions or something that looks like it, along with a long healing time. We are not so lucky with bugs, unfortunately.

[ornotna]

15. Dab a little ammonia on the bite

That will help with the itch. Fire ants are nasty little buggers.

[Jamastiene]

38. Thanks. I'll be ok now, I think.

The worst of the pain is now gone. It must have just gotten me on an area I use when sitting down. I'm all better now as far as the any bite goes. I hornet rode my shirt into the house yesterday. Make that Bugs 3, Jamastiene 0.

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. Benzocaine can help deaden the pain

http://agnews.tamu.edu/rifacea/rifacea3.htm

Paull said the fire ant's venom is an oily alkaloid mixed with a little protein, and your one chance to lessen the effect of the bite is to quickly break down the protein. He recommends dabbing the bite with diluted bleach or covering it with a paste of meat tenderizer and water. This method is not effective if more than 15 minutes have passed. Another option is to treat stings with an insect bite remedy containing benzocaine or other ingredients that deaden pain and protect against infection.

[MnFats]

17. whenever I hear about things like this or I get to..

..complaining about winter, I remind myself that I am grateful for temperatures cold enough to kill off stuff like that...
course, global warming will probably mean the fire ants will get here eventually..

[Jamastiene]

39. Wow, you mean there is a place where there are none?

I'm impessed. Wish I could see them go. We even see lots of bugs, both flying and creeping and crawling all year long. We see mosquitoes even in January here.

[benny05]

19. Fire Ants are the worst

I would say you need to take care of your arse.

[Jamastiene]

40. My left ass cheek is doing much better now.

At the time, I wondered if my ass would ever be ok again though.

[Bucky]

20. This is a good first draft for an erotic story.

But maybe change the ant to "Sven, the Swedish yard man".

[Jamastiene]

41. Oh, that's good.

I should contact you if I ever get to have my own web site again. If I do, I plan on a kickass short stories section.


:rofl:

[NewJeffCT]

24. isn't vinegar supposed to help?

or is that another animal poison?

[Jamastiene]

42. I've heard about baking soda and vinegar.

I'm all better now though. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[meow2u3]

25. That gives a whole new meaning

to the phrase "you have ants in your pants." :hurts:

[Jamastiene]

43. Oh yeah, it does. I kind of knew how Chris Wallace

must have felt when Clinton got through with him. :evilgrin:

[BreweryYardRat]

26. It could be worse.

Some poor bastard in the military related this:

http://www.soupsandwich.net/fireants.html

[BreweryYardRat]

27. It could be worse.

Some poor bastard in the military related this:

http://www.soupsandwich.net/fireants.html

[GoddessOfGuinness]

28. This story should be related to every woman who suffers from

penis envy.

Ow!

[Jamastiene]

46. I certainly don't envy that certain one.

I'm glad my little head is well protected or at least I hope it is. I don't want to experience any bite or sting from a fire ant on any soft skin location. Ouch!!!

[Jamastiene]

44. ROFLMAO!!!

I'm not laughing that the guy got bit, but at his recollection of the incident. It's just humorous how he wrote it. I love it. Thanks.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Hope you're feeling better today...

Sounds like it was horrible! :hug::beer::hug:

[Jamastiene]

47. I thought I was ok, but I just found another place where

I was bit on the same ass cheek. It's more itchy now than painful. I can cope with the itch all day and all night if it means the pain is now gone. That really hoit. :hug: Thanks.

[brainshrub]

45. Have you seen the Schmidt Sting Pain Index for insect stings?

* 1.0 Sweat bee: Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.
* 1.2 Fire ant: Sharp, sudden, mildly alarming. Like walking across a shag carpet & reaching for the light switch.
* 1.8 Bullhorn acacia ant: A rare, piercing, elevated sort of pain. Someone has fired a staple into your cheek.
* 2.0 Bald-faced hornet: Rich, hearty, slightly crunchy. Similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.
* 2.0 Yellowjacket: Hot and smoky, almost irreverent. Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.
* 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.
* 3.0 Paper wasp: Caustic & burning. Distinctly bitter aftertaste. Like spilling a beaker of Hydrochloric acid on a paper cut.
* 4.0 Pepsis wasp: Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath (if you get stung by one you might as well lie down and scream).
* 4.0+ Bullet ant: Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch nail in your heel.

Full article from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index

[Jamastiene]

48. I think fire ants should rank higher.

I've been stung by some of the other things listed including a yellow jacket. For me, the fire ant bite was worse. Of course, where specifically one gets bit or stung plays a big role in the amount of pain experienced. There is a post upthread that explains that a little better.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5659322&mesg_id=5662805

[SoyCat]

50. When I was four, I stepped into the middle of a fire ant mound (couldn't

see it) and ended up with a combination of 35 bites and stings. I can certainly sympathize with you. The bites on my bum were far worse than the ones on my feet and legs. It took five months for the marks to clear; I hope you heal sooner than I did. :hug:

[Jamastiene]

51. I know you had it bad.

I ended up with three total bites/stings and it hurt this bad. I imagine 35 would be way way worse. I'm glad you lived through that. It had to be serious with that many bites.

Thanks, I'm in the itching phase now. :hug: