That the ants are present indicates the mix is not correct and is not cooking away. You most likley need a Nitrogen source in that pile. Once you get it cooking the ants will move on.

That's interesting! If I have ever heard a fox, I didn't know what it was. When I lived in the woods, i sure heard a variety of odd and unusual noises many of which I could not identify. I sure would have bet on baby coons since they have such a wide variety of sounds. I finally got to the point of hearing a weird sound and just assumed it was "some" animal. Glad there was never an axe murder attacking people near me - I wouldn't have batted an eye at a blood curdling scream. LOL.

Asbestos can be dangerous stuff, but there are lots of dangerous things in life. The issue is whether you have any exposure. Before you start worrying about asbestos, where do you think it would be in your house that would pose a problem? In that vintage house, the only likely places are in vinyl tile or flooring, or if you have popcorn ceilings. Even if you have these products, there is no guarantee without testing that any asbestos is present, and, even if it is, as long as you aren't having it torn out, it's not an issue.

Yeah, it looks like you should sister or maybe just run a "scab" right beside it. a scab should be about 2' longer on each side of the damage. What type of flooring do you have? The reason I ask is because of the hole in the plywood. I would be concerned about that. You may need to cut a piece of plywood to match the hole (as close as possible), put glue on top of the plywood then place it in the hole. You will then put your sister/scab joist in, you can also put glue on top and on the"inside" of it as well. you will probably need to block under the plywood. Block means to either nail another 2x on the side of sister joist or nail a block between your joist pressed up tight to the plywood (the latter one is what I would do). Be careful not to nail thru your floor if using a nail gun. A screw and screw gun may work best here. If your floor has a week spot you may need to add blocks in a couple of places.