Kimmsr, You are in no position to speak to me about the pursuit of knowledge. Those shoes don't fit you. I pointed you in the direction of the research, but you rejected it. (Of course there is much more research and many experts which agree with my position and none which support yours.) Yet you persist in the false belief that you are correct. To make matters worse, you share your false position with others without providing anything to support it when asked. So, who needs to pursue knowledge here? As to ants, they are welcome in my pile with the exception of Fire Ants. That is a personal decision I have made. The only reason that Fire Ants are not welcome is because they sting and cause very unpleasant physical responses. In some people, those reactions can actually be fatal. Ants contribute to the overall decomposition process, so why would they not be welcome? By the way, sarcasm is an excellent technique to use when making a point.

Merryheart, We only had about a half-inch of rain in the gauge when I emptied it yesterday. Today it already has almost that much in it again. It has been raining but the sky is lightening up to the east, so maybe we will have some sunshine in a while. There are so many bugs around right now that my guineas are working themselves into a stage of exhaustion. When they get tired of chasing and eating bugs they put themselves in their house or pen and I close the door. Before the bugs were so abundant, they would stay out until dark, searching, searching, searching. Now they are usually back in their pen or house by 2 or 3 p.m., and sometimes even earlier. The chickens, on the other hand, will stay out until the coyotes start howling around sunset. Consider yourself patted on the back for waiting out the rose problems without resorting to pesticides. Pat, pat, pat. Vickie, Isn't the humidity awful lately? For us, it has been quite a while since we have had to deal with much humidity. During the drought of the last couple of years we had extremely low humidity, but we are paying for it now. Dawn

At our house, the word is 'ball'. Means almost anything appropriate to chew. (Toys.) That said, Jack has been taught by Isabelle that keep away is the best game ever. But a Bulldog plays easy, has no stamina and a Lab puppy turns the game into Chess. It took months for him to learn how to communicate with our bulldog but he has mastered the skill. Jack scores something he knows is important to the other members of the family and waves the such score in your face, demonstrating how he has mastered the game. It is keep away, full on. He could have my $80.00 slipper in his mouth, a remote control, Isabelle's favorite ball or even a telephone. It is 'Game on'. This is how she taught him to communicate with her. He gets her ball several times a day so I have to corner him as she is old, has mobility issues and I worry she will over heat. (She will chase him holding her ball until she dies.) He loves every second of the game but I worry she has taught him some very bad habits. Her way of playing has never bothered us but Jack has taken it to a whole new level. I get cold cloths to put on her belly to cool her off. Is your Frenchie getting her vitamins? What are you feeding her/him? I've heard (but don't know for sure) that some dog foods can create pooper scooper dogs... Talk to your Vet.

If there were that many inside your house all at one time it could very well have been dry wood termites. have/had you noticed any small sawdust looking mounds any where in your home before this happened? I had a similar experience years ago when I lived in an apartment in Ohio. Before the bugs I kept noticing sawdust under my bedroom door and just thought it was something caused by the new door rubbing on new carpet. When we did research when we saw the swarm we put two and two together-removed the door and took it outside and it was full of termites! This was a new door and apt manager and pest control figured the door was manufactured somewhere in the south since this type of termite was not common where we lived.