It probably has a better name, but we know the place only as Ant Island. Every few years, we forget the reason, and stop there to explore. We can safely pull the boat up to its rocks, and park. We can even get a rope around a thicket of bushes, to hold the boat against wind and wake. We do not get far up the rocky exposures, however, without encountering the feistiest ants of the north woods. Itís amazing how quickly they strike.

Before you know it, you are a-crawl. Seconds later, you are on fire! An ant bite is painful, but when you think about it, such a bite should not be the end of the world. It is not the end of the world.

But that is just one ant bite.
You are under siege, and in your mind that single, painful bite is multiplied by the thousands to which you suddenly feel exposed. You may decide, as we always do, that it is time to motor.

These are not the dreaded, imported fire ants that are invading the southern United States. Those pests (from South America) have made dramatic conquests since their accidental introduction to Mobile, Alabama, in the first part of the 20th century. They have not yet reached the northern states, much less Canada. Unlike the big carpenter ants that we find in trees, these feisty ones live in ground burrows, often marked with piles of loose earth from the excavation. They like to dig beneath shrubby vegetation, to discourage predation by bears and other ant-eating animals. They forage for seeds, vegetation, and other insects.

Whatever success they have had elsewhere, their takeover of this end of Ant Island has been complete. We will leave this terrain entirely to them. That is (heh, heh!) unless we have an unwelcome guest, to whom we will recommend a lovely, solo afternoon hike on this beautiful island...

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605