Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Scourge of the Garden

This would be a funny story, but, if you click on this first photo to see what is carrying this green leaf away, you'll see a "cutter ant" - the" scourge of the garden". In past years I've watched them eat five rosebushes in a matter of days. Now I have extensive gardens so I can't find them all the time. I just know when a bush or shrub is stripped of its leaves or blooms that the gosh darn cutter ants are around. SO, in order to get this photo for you, I was flat on the ground with the camera .........eye ball to eye ball with the ant. There were many of these guys but it only took this one photo to show what I'm up against. A little tiny creature carrying off something two or three times its size. The other day while I was sunbathing, I watched a bourganvilla bloom being carried across the patio. It was so big the ant kept falling over. I just watched in amazement.
I hate to admit it but I now have the ant poison out and I'm ready to do battle to protect the geraniums, kolanchoes, bourganvillas and daisies.........These photos are just from the patio outside my bedroom - a space about 14 x 14 feet.
I have a lot of work to do. Patrolling the garden is a time consuming task - (I'm being funny now). The butterflies and the humming birds bring pleasure and maybe they'll make me forget the "scourge of the garden". When the rains come, the ants go underground not to be seen again until next spring. Happy days.
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8 comments:

Bob Mrotek said...

Hey, that reminds me of the old Boy Scout song, "The Ants Go Marching".

"The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah.
The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah.
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to have some fun,
And they all go marching
DOWN THE EARTH, BEYOND THE RAIN
Boom boom boom...."

1st Mate said...

Don't you wish you had half their strength, those little supermen? Where do they work out? Hope you've got the right stuff to vanquish them, it's a shame to lose a beautiful rosebush in a matter of days.

Babs said...

Oh Bob, you made me laugh outloud!

First Mate - I REALLY hate to use poison but I haven't found anything "holistic" other then the bottom of my shoe........

Islagringo said...

We watched a whole line of them cross our path in the jungle in Costa Rica. I got down and took pictures too! It was like a moving line of solid green. And I am a big proponent of Casa y Jardin. Doesn't harm your plants but kills ants dead. In the house too!

picklesandroses.blogspot.com said...

Bob, that was a Girl Scout song as well. Ready? A one, two, three...ta-da-ta-da.
I love watching these little guys...we used to see them all the time in Bastrop. I've been fascinated by ants since I was a kid (have to admit that was pre-TV).

picklesandroses.blogspot.com said...

Another thought...once while staying on a "poison-free" very "green" ranch in NM, the ants were invading everything in my little cabin. So each morning I got up and peed in a bucket and carried it outside and poured it down the ant hill. At least it kept them at bay and beat a walk to the common bath house.

Theresa in Mèrida said...

The best stuff in my opinion is Trompo.It looks like chocolate sprinkles. You put it around the plants that they want to eat or even better on their path to the plants. They love the stuff and take it home to their hive, where they all die. My neighbors swear by denato (or something like that) but you may as well be sprinkling DDT around, so I stick to the ant bait.
regards,
Theresa

Frankly Ronda said...

We have cutter ants all over the place here. Youngest Son is obsessed with them - they only come out at night.