Ant Rant: The Ant Invasion

Lorenza, in the box, and I, Moka, have nothing to do with this post. We just want to let Aunt Cherie know that every single part of our care package means a lot to us. We take turns using this cool box.

Friday morning after drinking my coffee I went up to the kitchen sink to wash the few dirty dishes. The usual routine. The housekeeper was here the day before so the kitchen was sparkly clean. There were no crumbs on the counter, a miracle in itself in a house where five young single guys use the kitchen. Not to be discriminatory, but most of the men I have known don’t notice details like crumbs on the counter.


Before I could wash one single coffee cup, little black ants were crawling up my legs. It was my mistake for forgetting my flip flops, so I ran to grab them after a quick rinse in the shower. Those little buggers bite, and their bites last a long time itching and blistering. I had one of those “Oh no I am going to be eaten alive” moments that linger from learning adventures gone by.

We have heavy duty ant killer, H24 Polvo Para Hormigas but we can’t use it in too many places because it’s so toxic. There are too many humans and animals about the house. I am aware of spraying areas with vinegar water to disorient the ants, but I can only handle so much vinegar smell. So I use talcum powder. Ants don’t seem to like it.

I looked at the floor and saw two Corn Pops and one dead palmetto roach. I know the male person who eats corn pops and the cats hunt down those giant roaches and bring them in to play with! Luckily they play to the death. Those three items were enough ant food for the zillions of ants I saw prancing around the kitchen floor. So I whipped out my talcum powder and ‘empanizado’d (a term meaning breaded, but after a shower when I cover myself in talcum powder, I say I am recently empanizado’d. A local thing, sorry.) The entire kitchen floor. The talc only confuses them, but it gives me a chance to sweep them up without them eating me alive first. The down side of this ant treatment is it leaves the floor extremely slippery, and I have to sweep it up several times.

After confusing, moving and then killing the kitchen ants, I headed over to the cat feeding station. Someone treated them the night before to some fresh fish and there were bones scattered about among crunchies that had been pulverized by teeny tiny red ants. There were trillions more ants just trailing along like they owned the cat station. In the cat station I use a spritzer of Fabuloso to clean the mess six cats plus the uninvited ones leave over night. Fabuloso also kills the ants. I don’t give those miniature red ants a chance to bite me, so I can’t say if they do bite. Then I throw talcum powder in the doorway to head them off in another direction.

It was a beautiful day and I decided after ant duty I’d head out to the pool, thinking there wouldn’t be ants there. There used to be! But I recently changed the plants in the planters that surround the pool. I had something in them before that it turned out ants loved. They look like this now and the ants could care less about them.

My last few outings to the pool have been ant free, so much so I was thinking how pleased my friend Mike would be when he comes over to swim. But not last Friday. I washed them all away with chemicalized water. However it was luckily the last ant detail of the day. They must have been very thirsty because they were heading for any wet spot and investigating the entire outdoor area. We haven’t had a drop of rain in months, and the ants have gotten out of hand.

We also have the giant biting red ants, but I don’t see them too often. We have the carpenter ants, the leaf cutters, from the prehistoric monsters to the newest alien versions. You live in the tropics, you deal with ants. By the time I got around to writing this blog post though, we have had some rain. And that means some respite from the ant problem. I still have to stay on my toes to keep it under control, but the rainy days seem to be helping a little. Only a little. There are other ants who like to come inside when it rains to see what goodies they can find on the floor. It really never ends. I just talcumed my bedroom floor.

Today my concern though is really mosquitoes, which are out in force after 24 hours of light rain. I have Mexican incense lit next to me; Raid Mosquito Killer Coils is the name if you want to find them at the store. Lavender scented. That’s it, that’s my ANT RANT.

Animal Sterilization Mérida: More Photos

Did you really think I could post a story about such a huge venture with only one handful of photos? NOT!  Here is another handful....

Super-Volunteer & Dog Whisperer Extraordinaire, Jill.

Patiently waiting.

Poor baby. 

Surgeons and Vet Techs in translation.

Critters came in all kinds of containers.

Off to the recovery room.

The last stop:  recovery.  Whew!

Animal Sterilization Clinic - Mérida, Jan 11-15, 2010

Our friend and neighbor Jill volunteers at an animal shelter outside the city. Silvia the owner, Jill, and other volunteers feed and shelter over eighty animals at the Albergue Evolución in Umán. In December, 2009, they held a fundraising art show where Pablo donated two of his paintings. At that event we learned about the sterilization clinic being coordinated for January in conjunction with Planned Pethood of Mérida and other local animal shelters. Twenty veterinarians were coming to the Yucatán from the United States prepared to perform 1500 spay and neuter surgeries on our local pet overpopulation. Ten clinics were set up in a five day period at different locations around the city and beaches. At Silvia and Jill’s shelter alone there are some 80 dogs and cats, and the clinics gave them a miraculous opportunity to sterilize as many of their animals as they could transport to the facilities. Interested folks were invited to bring up to ten animals each. Lots of volunteers were sought for the program and we participated.

The scheduled week was from January 11-15th, 2010. If you know me at all, you already know how I feel about operating on animals. “Off with their balls,” I say! So on the coldest Monday morning in decades, we battled the elements before dawn to shuttle two friends and three dogs (without cages) from the shelter to Xmatcuil, the first day’s clinic. I sat in the back with Dixi, a pudgy 7 month old pup, who was well behaved on the ride to the location. But when we got there she could no longer hold her excitement and vomited all over me, perhaps in response to my “Off with their balls!” remarks.

As everyone met up at Xmatcuil, Pablo assisted in the moving of the animals through the sterilization process, and I was assigned the job of taking photos. I was fascinated at the opportunity to see this surgery for myself, and I took my task seriously, rapidly filling my camera. Once we emailed photos off to the newspaper, we took up positions in the recovery room. We held and rocked the anesthetized dogs and kitties like little babies, watching them change from limp creatures with their tongues hanging out of their mouths back into the beloved pets that came in the door. Everyone involved hustled around all day and an incredible effort was met with total success.

The next couple of days we spent actually managing the clinics: registering, weighing, tagging and moving the animals through the system; assisting the vets, and caregiving in the recovery room. Everyone involved worked long hours, and together we all made it a success. By the end of the week each clinic met its goal, demonstrating the overwhelming response of the people. Folks were very appreciative of the program, and we hope it is possible to do it again next year. 

Lin, Chloë & puppy, and Julie off to Xmatcuil.

Line 'em up!

Two adorable and adoptable puppies from the shelter.

Good morning, Mérida!

The vets and surgical area at Xmatcuil.

My Animal Friends

I sneak a cat photo into a blog now and again, but I haven't posted many animal pics lately. I can't post other folks' animals without showing off ours too, and recently I took lots of pictures of our newest animal acquaintances.  I guess I could say I really enjoy photographing animals. Last year I lost a lot of photos in a computer crash, so this update is for me as well as friends who ask how the kitties are doing. 

First, some photos of the commando.

Buster, deep in thought.  Comandante-in-Chief. 

Princesa Sak Boox.

Weasel,  adopted by the comando and Busmo's best friend.

Busmo cleans up while relaxing in the hammock. 

Little Lorenza.  The littlest comandante. 

Moka and Mokito.  He's into the catnip.  Mom's not thrilled.

Moka, THE Comandante General y Inspectora Principal.

Mokito's favorite sleeping position. 

Below are some of the animals NOT part of our comando, but with whom we spent the holidays and we visit from time to time.  They're all unique characters, provide a lot of laughs and love for us, oh, and their owners are great people too.

Willy, the whispering cat with the softest little "meow".  He loves to play with Izzy, Poodle and Klem the dogs.

Willy enjoys a spell in the hammock.

Rodney and Cheetah cuddling on a cold morning.

Rodney, Simba and Cheetah.  Brothers and best friends.  They live with Jack, Lynx(not pictured) and the two Juniors(look like Rodney-not pictured).

Can't resist a spin in the dryer. (Just kidding!)

Jack the tough outdoor cat.

Jack the gentleman wants to go inside.

Izzy the eternally playful dog.

Poodle and Klem pondering the day.

And this is Rupert.  He is from France. He looks like he could speak French, doesn't he?

Creature Features

A person living in the tropics gets used to seeing insects, butterflies, moths, iguanas, birds, and other creatures on a regular basis. What is interesting is how HUGE they are! The iguana that suns himself on my patio wall is nearly three feet long. He watches me in the pool and I watch him back sitting on the top of the wall. I think he will let me take a good photo of him soon.

With a house load of cats, often when I wake up during the night, I see the cats in a circle carefully studying something. Curiosity gets me and I check it out. The cats particularly enjoy hunting the prehistoric sized cockroaches outside, bringing them in, and chasing them around until they are unable to play anymore. Sometimes roaches just turn upside down and play dead. When the cats lose interest the roach flips over and heads back to his business. The cats hunt down a few of them a night. Picking up "roaches" in the morning has taken on a new meaning around our house! They are not house roaches, they are the larger variety. I'd call them sewer roaches. In Florida they avoid the usage of the word roach at all, they are called palmettas.

One night I found the cats surrounding a small snake. The snake was found the same day that a swim student's mom thought she saw a big snake under our bodega. Well, we cemented up the hole. He dug another one. I doubt a snake did that, but whatever was living under the bodega has since moved. We think it was a zorro, or possum. We do have a sneaky possum around here. The snake was much smaller than this earthworm I found the other day in the garden.

As a kid I loved to hunt for nightcrawlers with my dad, so I figured I would show you how big the earthworms are here. Just so you know, the snake was not even half this size.


Last night the kitties brought me this scorpion.

That is my writing pen next to it for size, and of course it is covered in cat hair. By the looks of Mokito's eyes all gooned out, I am guessing he made the kill and was probably stung. The good news is that the scorpions in this area are not highly toxic, and the larger the less toxic. When I lived in Akumal I accidentally stepped on a Mama red scorpion as she was giving birth to at least 50 little toxic buggers and I got stung. I almost jumped through the roof. The pain was horrible, much like a portuguese-man-of-war or box jellyfish sting; it makes your entire body hurt.

I can't wait to see what animalitos the rainy season washes out of their hiding places. I am sure the cats will provide more fodder for another creature feature in the future.