Thursday, September 23, 2004

Ants (still not in my pants)

Scroll down if you're reading top to bottom and look at my other ant post first, but I just saw this in Texas Monthly today, and it's very useful if you're around fire ants on a regular basis:
Dab the bites with a weak bleach solution in the first ten to fifteen minutes.

Believe it or not, this will stop those nasty white blisters from forming, and if you've ever seen them, 'nasty' is definitely the operative word.

Here's how you make the bleach solution:
Add one tablespoon bleach to a 1-cup measure, then fill it with water. Dab on affected areas.

Something else I didn't know about fire ants is that motion cues them to sting. So shaking your foot violently to get them off is apparently not the terrific idea I always thought it was. 'Calmly and slowly' is apparently the best way to go. Use the bleach solution and then ice to reduce swelling.

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