LITTLE ROCK — Oh, come on. Nobody 'round here calls 'em fire ants. They're called fahr ants in Arkansawyerese. We were at a deer camp only a few days ago when a friend of ours-a hound dog named Duke-perched himself on a picnic table. We wondered aloud if he was trying to get away from any pesky ticks and fleas in the area. Nope, a local said. Duke jumps on the table to get away from the fahr ants.
Nancy Cole's story the other day on fire ants got us to thinking about the subject again. The state's plant board, which some of us didn't know existed, reminded hay farmers that they can't ship hay from certain counties to other counties (and states) because of a fire ant quarantine. Folksin north Arkansas (or Missouri or Kansas) would rather not have a bale of hay plopped down in a pasture in their area if it's filled with fire ants, thank you very much. And the feds can hand down stiff fines should it happen, the story said.
Okay. We get that. Here's what we don't get: If whole regions-whole states!-can virtually eradicate the boll weevil, then why can't the same be done with fire ants? A quick Google search shows that Australians are getting rid of the little critters by baiting the ground with stuff that keeps them from reproducing.
In the meantime, maybe we could import some aardvarks around here. We promise not to hunt them. Much.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 10/25/2007