Sorry for not posting anything in a while - we've been having trouble finding the time to devote to posting. Nothing big, mostly just busy daily life right now.
We awoke the other day to swarms of black ants all over our little back porch and pretty much covering the back and side walls outside of our apartment. They also covered the grass surrounding the house. They probably covered about 2000 sq feet between the porch, walls and grass. It was an incredible number of ants.
We really should have taken a video. These pictures just don't do justice to the fast and constantly moving swarm. It was really hard to take these pictures, though, and at the same time stay out of the way so they didn't scurry up your feet and bite and sting. We've been stung by these kinds before - I'm not sure of the exact type, but they're some kind of invading jungle army ant. They're black and much, much larger than the common fire ants here. They hurt a lot.
Anyway, feeling we might be over run with ants in a few minutes, we and our neighbors used some Raid-type bug spray to keep them from coming inside, but then we realized that with a baby in the house we probably needed to wash all the floors and the stuff Aliyah plays with and sucks on that the gas settled on. Even though we only sprayed outside, it smelled so bad inside that we had to leave for a few hours to let it air out.
People here say that if these ants invade your house (which usually happens once or twice a year) it's best just to leave for the day. When you come back, they will be gone and the whole house - inside and out, floor to ceiling - will be completely bug-free, supposedly even the spider webs are gone, though I'm not sure I believe that.
I think we may actually do that next time. It probably healthier and easier than coating our place in pesticide.
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