Ants

 FTW - 11/17/22 

We have been attacked by ants.  Walt was wondering where they all were last night when he was loading the dishwasher because there were none on the counter--and then he found them inside the dishwasher.

We haven't had ants like this since the 1980s.  The last time I remember a big attack of ants was when we were hosting students from Chile and their leader, a physician, was living with us.  I remember he said we could make an ant sandwich by putting mayo on a piece of bread and turn it upside down on the counter.

I have to admit I had fun with those ants. I studied them a lot and saw a lot of their behavior.  I remember that if you killed one, the others would come and haul it away.  I got rid of a bunch of them once by smashing seveeral of them at night and when I got up in the morning, they were all gone.  I also remember one ant who was trying to help another ant who had slipped over the edge of the kitchen counter.  The ant on the counter was trying to pull it back up again.  I decided that if he managed to get him up, I'd let them live; if he couldn't I'd kill them.  Eventually, the two of them fell onto the floor and I stepped on therm.

But we haven't had ants like that since the 1980s.  This isn't as bad as that attack, but very frustrating finding them on the kitchen counters and in the bathroom.

At least this time Ned is taking care of the kitchen, so it's his problem to clean up.  And we don't have enough of them to make ant sandwiches these days.