April is a grand sight here in Texas. After a good soaking spring rain, the bluebonnets bust out all over at the sides of the highways. If you’ve never seen it, you have no clue what a magnificent display Mother Nature arranges. Fields and hillsides are decked out in blue flowers that shimmer in the morning dew.
Tourists to the Lone Star State often screech recklessly to a halt in the middle of the road so they can snap pictures of the spectacle. Often families want to pose in the midst of the flowers for photographs, but anyone from Texas can tell you that might not be a good idea.
Yesterday I watched with morbid fascination as a family tumbled out of their Lexus and scrambled into the profusion of flowers to get their picture snapped. Momma and her two little boys giggled and grinned, as they plopped themselves on the ground to pose for Daddy and his camera.
Now, I could have told them not to do it, even though I was on the other side of the road at the far end of a parking lot. I wanted to tell them, but their license tag said “New York.” It has been my experience that people from New York don’t seem to appreciate advice from us “hicks” who live here in Texas. So, I just watched helplessly and waited for the inevitable.
The drama unfolded just as I knew it would. Only a few pictures had been snapped before the happy smiles seemed to freeze on their faces. The smiles turned to shock, and they all began to squeal and holler at the top of their lungs. All three leaped into the air and started hopping and popping like water in a hot skillet. They were slapping at their legs and trying to strip off their clothes as they ran back to the safety of their car. The poor unsuspecting foreigners had traipsed right smack dab into the middle of a bed of fire ants.
I don’t know if you have these vicious critters where you live, do you? A fire ant is no bigger than a dash or two on this page (–). But, that itty bitty fire ant lives up to its name. Its bite stings like fire. Not only that, they are ferocious. If you disturb them, they swarm all over you before you can blink. Any Texan can tell you that after a rain those ants move to the surface. You just can’t sit down in a patch of weeds without checking it out thoroughly before hand.
If you are planning a trip to Texas in April, the Texas Department of Transportation will tell you where you can find the loveliest displays of flowers at the side of the road.
By all means, I hope you stop and take some pictures. I would ask that you pull all the way off of the highway before you stop. And, I beg you not to be an April Fool. If you want to pose in the flowers, please get a stick and poke around before you sit down. If you see ants swarming, I promise you don’t want a picture that badly.
I hope that poor family got at least one good picture. And, I hope they found a pharmacy to get some Benadryl.
[amended: Marcia commented and brought up an important point. While most fire ant bites do not cause a problem, some people can have severe allergies. It's normal for it to itch and sting. White pustules may appear, but leave them alone and they will go away in a few days. However, it is NOT normal if you experience difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, or swelling in the throat after the bites. That could mean that you are allergic, and you should seek medical help immediately.]
Other posts you might enjoy:
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful flowers and I wouldn’t have known about the fire ants either! Up here in the Northeast, we think of ants in the summer, not in the spring.
Here they stop for foliage pictures, right off the highway!
I guess y’all don’t have the ants yet. They are supposedly moving north, but a good freeze will kill them. Sometimes our winters are so mild that the ants are out all the time!
Show a picture of your foliage—if it ever thaws out enough!
Fire ants are overwintering in the mountains in some Southern states now. . . My husband has been to the hospital over just a FEW bites several times; they are like bees to some people. . . They have moved quite a bit north, even on the West Coast — they have been in parts of Oregon for years.
Your flower photos, however, are beautiful, I would love to see them — from the road.
Whaddya’ know! Marcia just shared something I had no knowledge of…there are fire ants in some parts of Oregon. I live in Oregon, but fortunately have never encountered any here, nor heard of anyone else encountering them.
I took pictures of wildflowers today. The thing I had to be uber-careful with was poison oak. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as thick in the area I like to hike as it was today. Yikes, it made finding the elusive Gentner’s Fritillaria Lily a huge challenge. I found some, but dang it, they haven’t bloomed yet. No worries, I’ll go when it’s warmer and take more pictures.
My mom has often shared a funny story of watching my dad dance because of the fire ants while mowing the front lawn when we lived in Mississippi.
ciao bella~
CeeCi
Marcia, the road is the best place to see the flowers. We have copperhead snakes, too. But, you brought up an important point that I need to mention on the first page: fire ants can be NO laughing matter! Thanks.
CeeCi, I can just see the dance your Daddy was doing as he mowed. I’ve done that dance more than once when I mowed. I’m not sure I even recognize poison oak, but I know we have it. Also poison ivy, and I have to be careful in my own yard about that.
I love those pics! If I was up that way – you’d probably be laughing at me stopping to take pics, but we don’t have Bluebonnets here…lol! Good to know about the fire ants though, they sound terrible! I guess I’ll take my mosquito any day!
TeaMouse, the fire ants are bad. Take your mosquitos over ours, too. We have some large mosquitos. I’ve seen them carry off a horse…oops, tall tales are going to start!
I really, really appreciate that you added the info in red to this post.
Marcia, I knew you would. I should have put it in before, because fire ants really aren’t much to laugh about, although tourists are.
You should have seen me when I was out shooting the Bluebonnets – I watched every single step very carefully! The fire ant & I do not get along well at all, so I really did not want to meet up with him!
Yep, those fire ants are boogers. I have them all over my yard!
{ 1 trackback }