Buck Vs. the Bulldog Ants

by David Kersey

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  John described an abbreviated version of what he had been doing since we last saw him. He started by saying, "the Sheriff called while were walking the field. Three men were arrested on highway nine. A road block was set up and all trucks were stopped, and they found the box truck these men were in had some bulldog ants in the back. They're in custody. We'll see what happens with that."

  "We found hundreds of the ants in one row of the cornfield. They had taken down what must have been a weasel. That turned out to be a good thing for us but unfortunate for the animal. We sprayed a combination of boric acid, talcum powder, and a concoction I had delivered from the white-coats at ACC. That worked, it caused them to scurry back to the logs they had arrived in. There were four logs split in two, and I think each log possessed a queen but I am still not sure about that."

  "There might have been more than four of those logs in that box truck, so we called around to our neighbors and put them on alert."

  "We sprayed the chemicals on the perimeter of the entire cornfield in hopes that would contain them, but frankly I have my doubts. All ants are crafty and I don't expect these to be any different. I have no idea how many might have escaped the perimeter, but I know we got a lot of them. In theory the ants should have taken the toxic chemical into the acacia logs and contaminated the nests, but we dare not take any chances. We decided to set the logs on fire. I had two water trucks come in case we needed them and one of them is still on the dirt road making sure the fire doesn't reignite."

  "We then started walking through the corn rows looking for strays, and found quite a few on the ground and on the stalks. I also noticed the mites on the leaves and I figured they found their way into the husks too. That's when I decided to burn the whole field, something I thought I might have to do as soon as I found the telltale corn molecules in Mort's mouth. Speaking of Mort, I wonder how he's doing. We'll check on him before I go inside."

  "We also checked the wheat field but we didn't see any ants or mites there. We looked across the dirt road at the tree line and didn't find them there either. So we may have a stroke of good luck going for us, Buck, but I just don't know. We're going to have to be watchful. They may be coming our way from another deposit, like the one at Klein's, or new ones they may have set out of the same box truck."

  "And oh, none of us got stung. Pretty darn lucky. Let's go take a look at Mort."

  After John was satisfied Mortimer was recovering, as he had expected he would, John told us he's needed to call it a night, and that it had been a long day. But before he went, he unlatched the kennel gate and let Mort decide whether he wanted to stay or go. John then left us but as he was walking up the steps, he turned, and said, "Why don't you and Cassie stay inside the house tonight just to be safe?"

  Cassie and I looked at each other. No, we declined, and for the time being we would spend some more time with Mort and fill him in about the happenings. We couldn't go inside the house for the night and risk the circle getting in trouble and us not be available, not that we'd know what to do.

  So we rehashed the circle meeting in Mort's presence. Told him about a small amount of friction in the group, about Wendell, and what we had learned from John. And then I expressed my concern to Mort, something I hadn't satisfactorily worked out in my own mind.

  "Mort, look at my soft paws, and Cassie's too. We can't stomp on these ants and expect not to get hurt. Your hooves are much more suited for crushing them underfoot. You got any ideas?

  "NNooo."

  "I don't think we'll need to meet again tonight if John was as successful as he'd hoped, but we still have to think about tomorrow and the next day. Can't help but think this isn't over, not by a long shot. So far I'm clueless about not only how to defend ourselves, but how to go on the offensive."

  And then Cassie said something that made sense. "Oliver said there are livestock coming here. I suppose he meant animals with hard feet, if that helps."

  "That's a thought, Cass. And we need weight. Animals big enough to do the job. Right now the only two in our group big enough are Mort and Penny. Mort survived at least one sting, so it would seem bigger is better when you think about surviving a sting."

  "Don't forget Candace. I bet she'd like to get some revenge."

  "Let's think about what advantages we have over them. We are bigger than them, faster, and we have the ability to out think them."

  "So we could use trickery, like luring them into a trap, maybe", Cassie said.

  "The video presentation showed the bulldog ants, the regular, unaltered ones, in their natural habitat. A portion of that segment informed that the ants like to feed on nectar. That's something to think about as a trap bait."

  "And something else to think about is do we really know how aggressive they are? Do we know yet that if they see us that they will attack every single time? I wonder if we could be overestimating them. But yet, look at what happened to Wendell, so I guess it's safer to err on the side of caution."

  "II'mmm gggooiinnnggg oouuttt ttooo pppaasssttuuurrreee," Mort said.

  "Ok, Mort, we should be right here if something comes up." Then I looked at Cassie and realized I had made a rather forward assumption.

  "Buck?"

  "Yes, Cassie?"

  "Would you mind if I stayed the night with you in your doghouse?"

  Problem solved. "I would be delighted."