West Africa Journal

Last night the ants came. I hate the ants.  The ground was a seething, squirming mass of black. I didn’t know they were there at first but it only took seconds before I discovered them in the most painful way. 
The chickens were fussing, squawking and flying around when they should have been sleeping. Then the dog started growling and yipping.    It was dark, 10 at night. The generator was off and the moon was behind clouds.  I stepped outside, cautious, expecting to find the ‘big big’ snake that the night guards said had been coming to visit at night.  I stood still for a moment, listening  but seconds later  I felt horrendous biting, stabbing pains all over my feet, up my legs and back.  They were like hundreds of needles poking me all at once.  I knew instantly what it was before I saw them – Driver ants, also known as Army ants.  In rainy season they come up out of the ground and move through self-dug trenches by the millions.  They are not small ants but they can’t be felt crawling on you. When they are satisfied they have covered enough territory, they all bite at once.  They don’t sting either, they bite and they don’t let go of  the skin.  To get them off, one has to pick them one by one, with little chunks of skin coming off  in the process.  The pain lasts for a long time and if you get enough bites, a person can feel quite ill.  I got enough bites and was nauseous and in desperate pain in minutes.
Hopping from foot to foot, and whimpering  in pain, I shone my flashlight around the ground to see how bad the infestation was.  Worse than I thought. I couldn’t see the ground at all for the ants. They were pouring out of numerous holes in the ground. I heard my rabbits hopping back and forth in their cages and realized with horror that the ants were covering their cages.  A couple years ago I lost several flocks of chicks and some hens when the ants attacked their coop and ate them within half an hour, leaving only beaks and little feet. The rabbits were only 20 feet way but I couldn’t get to them without going through the ants and I was suffering more and more bites all over my body, right up to my shoulders by  now.
I started screaming for the night guard.  Our compound is 12 acres and he appeared to be at the farthest corner but he came quickly, huffing and puffing up the mountain side to my house.   He stopped and shone his flashlight at me as I was dancing back and forth, flailing my arms and legs.  Seconds later he too began the dance and yelled ANTS!” He started to run away.  He was on the opposite side of the driveway from me, nearer the rabbits.  I started crying  and begged for him to come back.  I yelled at him to get the rabbits, get the rabbits!    The poor man, he isn’t a young man but he is spry and very loyal. Stomping his feet, he threw down his flashing light and started grabbing the rabbits one by one, making the run to the front step where I was blubbering and shoved them in my arms.    Once they were all safely in the house, I threw a can of bug spray to him and he started spraying arcs around the house to move the ants away from the door.  I ran inside, peeling my clothes off, pulling ants off my legs, stomach and shoulders.  The pain was excruciating but at least my animals were safe.  There was nothing left to do but soak the bites and go to bed and pray that the ants wouldn’t come in the house.  I made the guard promise to wake me if he saw so much as one ant climb the wall and come in a window.
  Every rainy season the ants come.  I hate the ants.

Filed under: Uncategorized on September 3rd, 2007