I have ant-blood on my hands. I think I could safely call myself an ant-serial killer. I have had a passionate hate-filled relationship with them for years.
I'm sure you hate them. You know you do. Their creepy crawly little bodies invading your home, your yard. They infest, bite, and destroy picnics. They invade our kitchens, and destroy our "good" days. We are forced to get out the ant spray, and clean, clean, clean. Half the time we have to throw away any unsecured/opened foods because they've damaged them irreparably. Whoever named them "ants" probably wasn't thinking clearly, right? I mean an "ant" is also an "aunt" and they're nice and fun and they bring you presents and stuff. No, you probably believe that ants should be called beelzebub or something of that sort. Am I right?
I, too, am not an ant fan in my home. We have had to clearly define the lines and limits in our relationship. But I freely admit, I'm beginning to love them. I feel a sense of aching when people load their lawns up with chemicals just to kill them off.
Did you know that ants are essential elements in nature? Have you ever stopped to consider how important they are in regards to maintaining pest control, so that our flowers, crops, vegetables can grow efficiently?
I stumbled on the discovery of ant greatness a few months back. I had a bell pepper plant that somehow became infested with Aphids and started to die. A quick google search will tell you to wrap that plant up in a bag and throw it away. No. joke. Aphids will invade a plant and kill it off if they're not contained. I tried the soapy water mix, but these aphids seemed to have adapted somehow to enjoy that stuff. They only doubled in amount! I tried the floodgate method, which didn't work either. So I put her outside, in my front yard, away from all of my other plants. I was hoping to purchase some ladybugs to maybe try to save this plant. Side note: As ridiculous as this sounds, I have become passionate about plant survival of late. They're almost like children, or pets, in a bizarre way. And in return for your love and devotion, they give you food. It's a genius relationship if you ask me!
The day after I put her in my front yard, fire ants moved in. They were all over that plant. They were covering that thing so hard that it really seemed like it was heroine and the ants were addicted. I thought to myself Well, she's for sure going to die now. Sad. Being the smart person that I am, I'm not about to try to pick up a plant and put it in a trash bag when it's covered in fire ants. Those suckers already have a passionate love of biting my flesh, so I figured I'd leave it be until they died down enough to get rid of it.
Then the monsoon season came. She was being watered by nature, and covered in fire ants. After a week, I went out to check on her. You know what I saw? A happy bell pepper plant! It even had a bell pepper actually growing on it! Not only did the fire ants not kill my plant, they saved it! They ate all of the aphids and in the process sexed the flowers so that they grew bell peppers!
I wasn't sure if this was due to the ants, or the rain, until recently. It happened again. This time, my watermelon plant became infested. She was producing several watermelons when they all started to die off. The leaves were wilting and she was very unhappy. Upon closer inspection, one saw that the leaves had been invaded with aphids. (bastards) Again, I attempted to do everything to save her. I pruned her way back, cut off the fruit, sprayed her with soapy water, dowsed her in a water bath, all to no avail. Then the ant colony moved in. They came, and the watermelon plant thrived. It grew like a crazy person, and became happy again. The aphids disappeared. Watermelons are growing again. When the aphids disappeared, so did the ant colony. How do I know it was the ants? Because this time there wasn't any rain. Just ants.
Ants are plants' heroes. Maybe that's how they got their name? Plants --> ants. I like to envision the ant colonies having signs up in their houses that say things like "Aphids are the enemy!" "Plants are our friends!" Ants = Pro Plants!" "The Ant-Friends-of Plants-Society wants YOU!"
So I'd like you to think about what you might be killing off, the next time you pour boiling water down a hole in your backyard. I'd like you to contemplate how much devastation our farming community (much of it brought on by themselves caving in to big Farma, and the government caving in to Big Seed Co) has already endured. I'd like you to think about learning to live in harmony with ants, instead of hatred. They hate the smell of vinegar. Maybe you can spray that around your baseboards/windows/doors once a month instead of pesticides. It's safer for you, your children, your neighbors, your pets; and then you don't have to go to sleep at night thinking of the billions and billions of innocent, plant-loving ants, that you've murdered.
I am here to encourage you, to let the death end, and the ant-love begin. :)
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