🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <VA.000000c0.002bef7e@bigun>, rgw@office-futures.com wrote:

>In article <7a6s4d$kq9$1@possum.melbpc.org.au>, Rd wrote:
>> We have trouble with ants nesting all around the house, especially at
>> the foot of walls and slabs [snip]
>
>I wonder if there is an ants' Usenet, where they discuss the problems of 
>trying to get rid of those pesky human newcomers, who build houses right in 
>the middle of nesting grounds and who keep trying to poison everyone?
>
>8-)
>
>Roger
> 
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> 
>Roger Whitehead,
>14 Amy Road, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0PX, England
>(Tel +44 (0)1883 713074; fax +44 (0)1883 716793)

My thoughts exactly.

Two nights ago, my wife was getting ready for bed and suddenly she called
out to me, "Oooh!  We have an ant problem!"  This time of year, at our low
latitude, ant colonies are already on the move to acquire the best new
nesting sites, as much as is possible in the crowded, competitive ant
world.  A small nest was relocating from under the house through our
bathroom.  We ignored them and the next day I couldn't find a single
straggler.  What a mess we would have had if we had stomped them or even
gassed them!  When ants are migrating and not foraging, it's smarter to
just let them pass.

For millions of years humans lived in the dirt with ants, and all manner
of bugs, most of which try very hard (and mostly succeed), in staying out
of our way, but NOW we can't stand the sight of them!!  And they remind us
to try to dissolve away or cover up all the dirt and odors that we see and
smell.  Does this make logical sense?, even if household products are
longterm safe to ingest and inhale?  We submerge ourselves in a sea of
unnatural chemicals and perfumes trying to ultimately stay healthy! after
our immune systems have long ago successfully adapted to the prior, more
natural conditions.  There's no evidence that living with insects causes
the degree of problems that we know the chemicals can cause.  And
afterall, even the cleanest looking household can't possibly be really
clean in the scientific sense, it's just superficial appearances!  

We've all heard the stories of little old ladies asking experienced
gardeners how to keep bees off their prize blooms.  :)  Some bugs are bad,
most bugs look the same, ergo - all bugs should be eliminated!

Ants are an integral part of the balance that should be all around us.  
We don't like some of the things they do, but they obviously help hold
other insect populations down to within what has become 'normal' levels.

I don't like to kill large numbers of bugs in the house because
continually breathing the outgassings from their 'remains' probably poses
more of a risk then their limited excursions do.  The companies that sell
products that kill household pests want you to overlook the fact that
clumps of dead, decaying carcasses persist for months.  Remember, it's not
the insects or rodents that make us sick, it's the pathogens they carry. 
If you kill the hosts, the pathogens will multiply unchecked until they
consume the carcass and then move on to the next food source.  Aren't
microbe populations increasing?, this seems to be to opposite effect of
what we are seeking.

Now, if it were possible to truly eradicate all bugs from the house, would
this be advisable?  We would probably have to release microbots to clean
up the scraps of food and waste and skin cells etc. that humans can't help
but leave around everywhere!  Otherwise, levels of bacteria would increase
markedly, and some strains under such conditions are much more nasty to
people than the insect and spider vectors.  In any case, the microbot
solution would be expensive and maybe just as unhealthy.  "Cleaning' and
otherwise stirring up sediments has been linked to the appearance of
'unnatural' diseases  against which most humans have an inadequate
defense.  It's a complex problem, but it seems that our immune systems
have long had a good handle on natural circumstances, as long as we don't
try for overkill!

Jerry

Half the biomass of insects passes through spiders and so, without spiders
humans would have a harder time surviving on this planet.