3245 Tiny Ant

Sunday, January 30, 2011

I was depressed last night so I called Lifeline.
Got a call center in Pakistan, and told them I was suicidal.
They got all excited and asked if I could fly a plane.

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I said the ants were tiny. This is the tip of my index finger, flattened on the scanner plate. That's a tiny ant flattened on the tip of my finger. The squished end of my finger is 5/8" across. That's a tiny ant!

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Later: They're Pharaoh ants (sometimes misspelled Farrow ants), and the little ant bait traps you put on the floor seem to be working.
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3243 Ants!

Saturday, January 29, 20011

Isn’t everybody pre-med? Either you’re a doctor, or you’re not…yet. Right?

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I have ants! They're the tiniest ants I've ever seen in my entire life!

Jasper likes Hartz "Crunch 'n Clean" kitty treats, and this morning I dropped a few on the carpet in the hall for him. Normally they disappear quickly, but this morning he'd just had breakfast, so he ate only two and left three lying there. I just walked past them, bent to pick them up and drop them into his food dish, and one of the three was covered with ants. Ants so tiny it would take 20 of them end to end to make an inch.

Where are they coming from? Why only one of the treats? What do I do now? Ants have never been a big problem anywhere I've lived. The old house would get a few big black ones in the spring (not carpenter ants, just big black ones), but they were usually just lost and passing through, new spring swarms looking for a good nesting place.

I immediately checked Jasper's food dish - no ants. Checked the kitchen garbage can - no ants. Checked the pantry - no ants.

I'm a little bit freaked.

The old house had clothes moths everywhere, mice coming up from the basement, and yellow jackets and hornets who liked to nest in the cars, but for some reason they didn't bother me as much as tiny ants here.

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Later: I found out what they are. See http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2011/01/3245-tiny-ant.html
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