Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 11:52:13 -0700 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Charlie Subject: Re: Fire Ant alert MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Scott, and others, I lived in Alabama for 4 (VERY LONG) years, and I don't think you exaggerated at all. I had to drive a good friend to a hospital when she stepped on a nest following a canoe trip. She was on the bank of the river, realized she was one foot in a nest, and jumped in the river. She still sustained somewhere on the order of 100 bites. The easiest way to ID them, in my experience, is by the nest. Scott's description was good, but I'd add that the soil that they churn up looks almost like it's been roto-tilled, and had air added to it. Doesn't look like any nest I've so far seen in MD. And they can get MUCH larger that a foot by 6 inches. The other way to ID them seriously IS to note the activity - from a safe distance. Hit the nest with a stick, and stand back. They are amazing to watch. Or try throwing a feral cat on the nest and see how long it lasts... To make this somewhat birding-related, there are now 2 chicks on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo nest I located last week. The nest is in the only pine tree in about a 50-meter radius, and it's only about 6 feet off the ground. I'd expected cuckoos to nest further up, since that's where I most often see them. Good day! Charlie > I've been know to exaggerate a bit. > > Scott Crabtree > Baltimore, MD > > Elliot Kirschbaum wrote: > > > For those of us who do not know what they > look like, can you provide a > > less heroic method of identification? > > > > Elliot Kirschbaum > > Baltimore, MD USA > > mailto:ekirschb@bcpl.net > > > > > ======================================================================= > > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to > listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > > with the following message in line 1: signoff > mdosprey > > > ======================================================================= > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to > listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff > mdosprey > ======================================================================= ===== **************************************** Charlie Muise, Naturalist Frostburg, Maryland, USA And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the Bible were used to beat plowshares into swords - Alan Wilson Watts __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================