Ants!

[Scottiemom]

We took the girls out for their walk tonight. We just arrived in our park two days ago. We noticed ants on us the other night after we went down to the grassy patch. It rained really hard this evening, so we didn't think about ants being there then. We started back and Butterscotch just sat down and wouldn't move. DH thought she had a sticker in her paw so I went back to help. When I put my flashlight on her foot, she was covered in ants. They do not appear to be fireants, but they bit anyway. We took her directly over to a mud puddle and I put her paws in it and splash it on the ants. We walked quickly home and I stuck her in the bathtub and used a flea/tick shampoo on her and really worked her fur with the sprayer. Sprayed her really good with lukewarm water. . . it had to feel good. When I got her out, I towel dried her and couldn't find any ants left. There were only about 6-7 in the water. But her little tummy is covered in about 20 or so bites.

I googled it and I am to watch her closely for 12-24 hours. Suggested a baking soda/water paste for the itching. Or hydrocortizone cream. I have the cream, but she doesn't seem to be bothered right now. I hate to do something that would stress her more.

I don't have any benadryl on hand. I could go get some.

Any other suggestions?

Dale

[rockhillmanor]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

Don't know about you but "I" am just about at my wits end trying to deal with, learn about all the different bugs,critters, which ones are poisonous and green, black and red mold that grows on EVERY darn thing you own down here. Not to mention my horrific experience of learning what leaves from a tree can kill your dogs. :R

I just keep saying to myself: there is no snow, there is no snow, I really can love Florida! :B

LOL!! After we bought our condo, I began to realize that we are spoiled in Michigan. Our biggest threats are fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks. Our one (rare) poisonous snake is little, shy, and not very lethal. We have coyotes, but they seem to keep a low profile. So I started a list of "things that can hurt us/dogs in FL" - and it's startlingly long, and a LOT more lethal. Eeeeks! So my dogs are ALWAYS on leash in FL, which is a small tradeoff for not shoveling snow 😉

X2
Native Wisconsin here.
Kind of weird but, what I miss the most about back home is being barefoot in the spring lush grass while BBQ'ing up the first big thick steak of the summer season.

Barefoot is just not an option down here between the scorpions hiding in the leaves, fire ants, and the no see ums laying low ready to attack your feet, poor dogs that want to go for a romp in the grass and can't, etc. 😞

What does snap me back to positivity is sitting out on my screened lanai during the winter months, in shorts, dogs at my feet laying in the sun ...watching all the news about all the horrific record breaking snowstorms back home.

And yes, I NOW know what a 'lanai' IS!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

rockhillmanor wrote:

Don't know about you but "I" am just about at my wits end trying to deal with, learn about all the different bugs,critters, which ones are poisonous and green, black and red mold that grows on EVERY darn thing you own down here. Not to mention my horrific experience of learning what leaves from a tree can kill your dogs. :R

I just keep saying to myself: there is no snow, there is no snow, I really can love Florida! :B

LOL!! After we bought our condo, I began to realize that we are spoiled in Michigan. Our biggest threats are fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks. Our one (rare) poisonous snake is little, shy, and not very lethal. We have coyotes, but they seem to keep a low profile. So I started a list of "things that can hurt us/dogs in FL" - and it's startlingly long, and a LOT more lethal. Eeeeks! So my dogs are ALWAYS on leash in FL, which is a small tradeoff for not shoveling snow 😉

[rockhillmanor]

Now that I know they don't have mounds. (which by the way I have spent hours following their marching troops all over trying to find their home mound to kill them):R

I just went out and sprayed a perimeter around the driveway and ex-pens. Hope that helps my poor pups.

Here's a kinda fun tip I found that REALLY does WORK when it comes to ants. Albeit you have to have the dog pens on concrete or any solid surface. All I can say is it's just amazing and NO dangerous chems involved.

Chalk.

STOPS ants in their tracks!

I drew a perimeter around the expens with chalk. They will NOT cross the line!
I have to admit I did spend some time drawing little circles around some of the ants and watched them keep circling to avoid touching the chalk, just to torture them for causing my dogs so much pain.:B

[Scottiemom]

That does seem to describe them pretty well. Except the map shows they are in Florida. . . I'm here to tell ya' . . . they are here in Texas, too!

Butterscotch has recovered well and the welts are almost totally gone from her tummy. I, however, am still nursing three welts from ones that stung me while I was bathing her. Grrrr.....

I have had two friends tell me to use clorox. And one has three little dogs in their motorhome. He said the clorox neutralizes the sting and it works for both people and dogs. He said not to saturate the sting, but just to dab a bit of clorox on it and it will do the trick. We don't have any clorox, but we're going to get some and try that the next time. I have a new stick of Afterbite and it helps, but doesn't totally get rid of it.

Thanks, everyone!

Dale

[rockhillmanor]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
OK - you piqued my curiosity. They appear to be "Little Fire Ants" (Crazy Ants ARE a type of ant, but they don't sting/bite) Here's their info - basically, at 1/16" long, they are darn hard to see....

Little Fire Ants

OMG! They fit that description exactly!
Thank You for providing the link!

""Nest Sites & Characteristics: Multiple queens. Nest in exposed soil, leaf litter, in rotten wood, hollow twigs or other plant cavities, under flower pots, or on the underside of objects left on ground.""

Yup, You leave 'anything' on the ground, and go to pick it up they are under it and then all over you biting.

And BTW thanks for clearing up that there really IS a type of ant called Crazy Ants. Personally I thought my new Floridian friends were a little bit, well you know,

for telling me they were called Crazy ants. I thought they were pulling my leg about that one.

Don't know about you but "I" am just about at my wits end trying to deal with, learn about all the different bugs,critters, which ones are poisonous and green, black and red mold that grows on EVERY darn thing you own down here. Not to mention my horrific experience of learning what leaves from a tree can kill your dogs. :R

I just keep saying to myself: there is no snow, there is no snow, I really can love Florida! :B

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

OK - you piqued my curiosity. They appear to be "Little Fire Ants" (Crazy Ants ARE a type of ant, but they don't sting/bite) Here's their info - basically, at 1/16" long, they are darn hard to see....

Little Fire Ants

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Scottiemom wrote:


A friend down the road also suggested clorox.

I'm not sure about Clorox, but the bug-bite relief pen that I use on the grandkids has an ammonia smell to it. And maybe I'll bring that along as we head to FL......

[Scottiemom]

That sounds just like them, rockhillmanor, except they have left two pustular thingies on my feet. Butterscotch has several on her tummy now.

A friend down the road also suggested clorox. He said not to saturate the skin, but to just dab a bit on the bite. It apparently neutralizes the toxin because he said it will not result in the pus bump and takes the itch away. I had been afraid to try that on Butterscotch, but he has three schnauzers he loves dearly and he said it doesn't hurt the dogs. The key is to just dab it and not spray it or anything.

I think we are past that point with the dog. She still seems to be doing fine and her tummy looks better, but still not normal.

Dale

[rockhillmanor]

Scottiemom wrote:
Yeah there was nothing obvious about these. They didn't have mounds, small or large. And

they are teeny tiny.

Girls are a bit confused about not going down to the patch, but they are smart. . . they will learn.Dale

Interesting, these same ants appeared here in Florida just last year. No mounds you'll just see toms of them all of a sudden marching around.

Even up on your feet! And I am here to tell you the stings from these micro ants are just horrible. I no longer walk thru the grass without real shoes on, no more flip flops for me.

Those bites hurt for over a week. I wonder if they are not in the same family as fire ants.Albiet they are way smaller, not red and don't leave that pustular bump like the fire ants do. But IMHO the bite is nastier.

I have my expens on concrete and I have to keep a watch all the time because all of a sudden they crop out of nowhere and will line up and march into the pen and onto the dogs.

Some of the locals down here in Florida refer to them as crazy ants.

[Scottiemom]

Yeah there was nothing obvious about these. They didn't have mounds, small or large. And they are teeny tiny.

Girls are a bit confused about not going down to the patch, but they are smart. . . they will learn.

Dale

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Ugh - one more thing to watch out for down south. At least the Fire Ants are pretty obvious.

[Scottiemom]

Thanks, rockhillmanor. . . we are in Mission, Texas, on our lot, which is all desert scape. But there is one lot with grass in the corner which is access to the water treatment stuff. We all use it for our dogs. We've been using it for over 5 years, with our other dogs.

We saw ants on us the other night and I got bit. But these ants don't build the big mounds like fire ants nor even little hills like regular ants. So it's impossible to tell where they are at. The grass, while short, is just too dense to tell.

The girls need haircuts (which complicated the situation last night), but I have never found anyone here to do it to my satisfaction. My one dog suffers from Scottie cramp and she always can't walk when I bring her back from the groomer. So decided I would try. I can't do it well, but I can get a lot of that ugly hair off of them. It's been hot here too, so they need a trim.

Butterscotch slept well all night, no scratching, etc., and just got up and came to me wagging her tail. Guess I'm forgiven for the bath last night. LOL

Thanks for your comments.

Dale

[rockhillmanor]

Scottiemom..We took the girls out for their walk tonight. We just arrived in our park two days ago. We noticed ants on us the other night after we went down to the grassy patch. It rained really hard this evening, so we didn't think about ants being there then. We started back and Butterscotch just sat down and wouldn't move. DH thought she had a sticker in her paw so I went back to help. When I put my flashlight on her foot, she was covered in ants. They do not appear to be fireants, but they bit anyway. We took her directly over to a mud puddle and I put her paws in it and splash it on the ants.....hered right now. I hate to do something that would stress her more.I don't have any benadryl on hand. I could go get some.Any other suggestions?

Wow, that had to be a bad experience for your dog.

Don't know were you are staying but here in Florida they have a small ant that is not a fire ant but gets on dogs and bites like crazy too.

Best thing you did was give the Benadryl.
I found 'liquid Children's Benadryl' to work the best for bites and stings. Starts working quickly for bad bits and stings.

Ask "YOUR" vet how to brake down the dosage for your dog. I give 2.5 ml per 14 lbs.

Warning though, do NOT use any generic children's brand only the Children's Benadryl brand. Some of the generic brands contain xylitol which can be deadly to dogs.

Kudos, Your fast thinking saved her from having a bad reaction. :C

[Scottiemom]

Thanks for that information, naturist. I appreciate it. I did give her a half a Benadryl so she would sleep comfortably.

Dale