This is cool but also absolutely not.
9 Likes
Huh. We have plenty of fire ants. I might have to try this!
2 Likes
You first, I am not getting near those little jerks.
8 Likes
Just reading the words “fire ants” makes me wince.
2 Likes
I stepped barefoot near a nest 3 days ago, still itchy welts on that foot.
Evil little things.
3 Likes
That is so neat to watch, and they are so aggressive you could probably put paint on paper and just nudge the paper into the ant pile. If they don’t eat it, it would be neat to see what they paint 
Reminds me of an art project I saw years ago using snails – since they eat paper, they were placed in a plastic bin with layers of different colored paper to eat through. Created their own abstract art (and the colorful snail poop…yeah that was a rabbit hole… or should I say snail hole?)
Unfortunately, best I could find on it!
3 Likes
Haha. That’s crazy.
1 Like
Well that was …different.
1 Like
I love the warning to only use invasive species for this, AKA pls don’t torture native ants. Also “we’re professionals don’t try this at home” followed by “Ack, they won’t get off the glove! Ack”
The Eye of Sauron like art seems appropriate for fire ants though!
5 Likes
Our new property is covered in fire ant mounts. We found a new one today in our garage. We have tried a few different things and we just can’t lessen the number of them. I am officially going to war with them this weekend. If I let me daughter try this first I’ll post videos.
2 Likes
Mix poison in with the paint and kill 2 birds with 1 stone…but don’t lick the painting after it’s done!
1 Like
My main problem is we have 3 dogs and the puppy loves to sample everything! I found ant bait granules on his chin the other day after he was checking out one mound shortly after my husband treated it. Fortunately he must not have ingested much of it as we kept a close eye on him the rest of the day.
2 Likes
This is gross and fascinating and … Does he discard the carcasses or just shellac them all into the page?
This is a fine question. I’m too busy running the other way to ask!
1 Like
I’m sure he carefully washes each one and returns them to the wild.
1 Like
Best art I have seen was when they poured molten metal into the nest for some abstract art.
Worked for me.
2 Likes
Yeah ant nest castings went from “for science” to “we could sell these and nuke some fire ants along the way” very quickly.
6 Likes
Later this month when flash flood season hits, if I happen across a raft of floating fire ants (yeah, that’s a thing), maybe I’ll snag them and give this a try. Otherwise it’s just too much work trying to get that many of them together without getting stung. 
2 Likes
A shovel, talc powder, and a five gallon bucket is all you need.
You can force them to raft in a day or two, and then you’re in business.
2 Likes