Other Bush Nasties! Bullants, jumping jacks, bees, wasps etc.

[Heatho]

The Bulldog ants definitely had wasps as ancestors, as Silver said all ants probably did. Myrmecia covers every species of Bulldog ant from the Jack Jumper to the largest Bulldog ants, they all have a stingers and are all ferocious, especially nasty are the smaller Jack Jumpers which also have the most potent venom. Myrmecia ranges in size from 8mm up to about 40mm.

 

[Davent]

Those bast ards really hurt, don, t get them up here thank god.
Back when I was a young soldier, we did a fire power demo (live rounds) which involved dismounting from an APC, then straight into an assault in front of dignitaries, politicians and visiting generals etc from overseas.
Well the APC I was in ran over a bull ant nest, and I dived either on it or near it when we dismounted, don, t know how many stings I got, but the safty officer thought I, d been shot! I knew exactly what it was.....god I will never forget that day....

 

[AtomRat]

Same daughter put her bloody hand straight into jumping jack nest today and I had to quickly rips 5 off... glad she's not allergic but gave her a big fright. The things are just everywhere.. never seen so many except in the gt

 

[Sandta]

I can vaguely remember reading a story of a dredge diver puting one of his hoses into his wetsuit to keep warm..
Unfortunately he had sucked up a jellyfish ....
You can imagine the result
8.(

 

[Chewy]

Yeah there seems to be a lot of ants about this year. I don't think I've managed to find a spot to stick the tent where there isnt ants nests. Luckily I've not been bitten. But yeah nasty bugga's from what I've seen and heard.

 

[limpalot]

When I was a kid , I was told to use bracken fern roots; mash it up to get what little moisture out and rub on the bite. Might be all in the mind, but seemed to work.
Cheers LL

 

[Occasional_panner]

..I think it was that painful I can't even remember how bad it was. Just pure shock and breathing difficulties mixed with constant internal stings, I can't even remember what I did or where I went to fix it :/

Hey AR, areas around your house can be treated to kill ant colonies, normally termidor is the best option, that's what is used on termite colonies.
It's normally a couple of hundred dollars depending on the area treated, if you're interested we could do a trade for info/coaching.

 

[casper]

Jumping jacks are the most aggressive ant in the world.
So bad is there temper, that a nest will split and go to war with each other.
They are the only ant that will attack there own colony.
Oh, and a sting with a punch.
The bulldog ant, ( inch ant, big f@&!#g ant, and holy f... that hurt ant)
Have one of the worst stings of all ants.

My brother has a really bad reaction to these.
And has to carry an epipen.
He has a really bad reaction to wasps too.
I can't believe how many wasp nests I have seen in a small area out prospecting.
Will have to get the petrol out and drown them of a night time.
( 5 in less than 500m of the creek)
And thats only the ones I could see.
So many of them out at the moment

Arm yourself with a pressure spray can of brake cleaner - kills flying wasps instantly and they drop like a stone and hit the ground dead. Kerosene in a trigger spray bottle is almost as good - they still drop as quick but aren't always dead when they hit the ground however they dont get up again.

casper

 

[Brumble-Gum]

I made the mistake of grabbing the biggest Inch Ant I had ever seen when out Oberon one day. This bugger was that big I could grab it behind the head. Like you do a yabby.
So being curious about all thing nature I thought I would grab this big bugger and see one up close. So fingers around the head behind pincers. Pinned to the ground I watched those nasty pincers opening and closing away from fingers. He, he I've got you you big bugger, so I lifted him up to inspect him up close. With fingers now safe from biting equipment I got a bit cocky and started to turn him over for inspection. As I was turning him over I could see he was getting really pissed off now at this personal violation. He started to throw his abdomen around. Look at the stupid thing trying to hit me with his bum, I thought Duhhh. Then to my horror out of his bum come the biggest sting I have ever seen. Yep, Whack straight into the fingers not once but twice. As you could imagine his freedom was immediate and my hand swelled up and was useless for a day. Duhhh.
Be careful with these buggers not only do they have pincers they have a bloody great stinger at the back too!

 

[AtomRat]

..I think it was that painful I can't even remember how bad it was. Just pure shock and breathing difficulties mixed with constant internal stings, I can't even remember what I did or where I went to fix it :/

Hey AR, areas around your house can be treated to kill ant colonies, normally termidor is the best option, that's what is used on termite colonies.
It's normally a couple of hundred dollars depending on the area treated, if you're interested we could do a trade for info/coaching.

Gday mate, Ill be over your way pretty soon and can meet up? I can help to send you in the right direction, can you change your profile settings so I can PM you

 

[Occasional_panner]

Hi Atom, sorry I didn't realize you had to manually enable private messaging, should work now.
Cheers Mark