The Fire Ants was a nickname for South Carolina’s football team in the late 1980s, nicknamed due to their garnet colours and fiery defense they would "swarm the field like ants defending their turf".
This was an interesting fact that I happened to stumble across earlier this week, yet unfortunately it was not the football team that I was trying to research.
Coming to South Carolina I had been warned about the cockroaches. They usually come out at night and if you’re wearing flip-flops they will crawl over your feet. I had heard the stories my first week of the girl who found one in her shower and the ones that crawl into your sheets and under your doors. However gross they are I seem to be coping well and at least they aren’t spiders! I have probably seen around 50 cockroaches yet only one spider, life was going well on the insect front... but not for long, it seems I was not warned about the fire ants!
These little buggers have created some serious issues for me this week. It was Monday evening, I was just returning from class and I bump into a friend on the path home. Not wanting to be in anyone’s way we step to the side to continue our conversation. Approximately two or three minutes into the conversation I start to feel my feet burning as if they were on fire, no joke! To my horror I look down to find my feet covered in fire ants. After screaming and running to the grass on the opposite side of the path and frantically swiping at my tootsies (I'm going to admit I was FREAKING OUT!) I had to return for my flip-flops which were now also completely covered in ants. With my feet on fire and my friend trying to help me brush the rest of the ants off the realization came that alas I had been standing right smack bang in the middle of the fire ants nest. Needless to say I cut our conversation short in desperation to get to my antihistamine!
Two days later my feet are very red, very sore and itch like CRAZY! Each fire ant will bite several times and release venom which causes the intense burning sensation. My week has consisted of a lot of antihistamine, sleepless nights and left some very unattractive welts. Only native to the Southern States of the USA I should have considered New England and gotten as far from these nippers as possible!
I guess spiders really are the least of my worries here!
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