Monday, September 10, 2007

the real reason I moved

A few weeks ago, I started noticing little bites on my legs. Actually, they weren't little; they were fairly large. I knew they weren't mosquito bites, and they didn't look like spider bites. I couldn't figure out where they had come from.

First I thought I was bitten while sitting in the park. Then they kept coming, so I thought maybe the couch. Then I thought the bed (bedbugs!). But C wasn't being bitten, and he spent roughly the same amount of time in those places that I did. Since I couldn't figure out how to avoid them, I just ignored them. They weren't too bothersome (except one that was really red) and I had my benadryl and cortisone cream to relieve the itching.

Then I started packing and moved, I didn't get anymore bites and kinda forgot about them. Until yesterday. Yesterday was Cleaning Day, the day we went to our old apartment and made it cleaner than it's ever been in the hopes that we get our deposit back. In the middle, we stopped for a picnic lunch that involved sitting on a blanket in the now completely empty living room. While there, we noticed that there were still little itty bitty ants roaming around. We had noticed them before we left, and we even bought ant traps (which we never set out because there was a chance that the cat would eat them and die) and since we were moving anyway, we just left them.

But then, watching tv last night after our hard days' work, I noticed an itch on my leg. Bug bite! Later, I discovered 2 more. The same questions about the origins of these bites were raised, until C had a brainstorm. What if it was those tiny ants? We researched tiny black ant bites via the i-net but couldn't find anything even remotely useful. But, it was the only explanation that made sense.

Why would they bite me and not Craig? Because ants are crazy. There is even a specie of ant called the "crazy ant." There are also species that use aphids like cattle, breeding, herding, and working them. There are species that sneak into other ant species' nests and replace their eggs with their own, so that the unsuspecting ants raise these new baby ants... until they grow up and eat their foster parents. There are species that are incapable of feeding themselves, so they enslave other species to do it for them. And, apparently there are species that live in apartments in Brooklyn and bite only Your Humble Narrator.

There are no ants in our new apartment, and that's the real reason we moved.

14 comments:

LittlePea said...

I had ants in my apartment when I lived in Miami. They were ghost ants but thankfully I never got bit. Maybe you have a better flavor than C

:o)

super des said...

I've never been bitten by ants before. I guess I'm just too sweet.

Working Girl said...

Some people react more to bug bites than others. C may be getting bit, but not having a reaction. I, luckily since I live in the swampy deep south, have almost no reaction to mosquito bites. They itch for about 5 minutes, then disappear. My husband, however, gets all itchy and scabby. It's definitely good that you moved, though!

super des said...

I'm the same way with mosquitos. I can watch them bite me and nothing happens. But ants are drawn to me, apparently.

Amy Jo said...

We also have ants at the moment. I don't know why, but every year around this time here in Georgia ants go on the rampage and head indoors. Someone down here told us it has to do with water, and since the area is usually in the throes of a major drought this time of year they seek water elsewhere. As in in my bathtub and sink.

Blech. I can't wait to move. Jealous!

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's ants at all. I think you're just having allergic reactions to your old apartment! :-)

Jbeeky said...

Hmm, strange. Mylo gets bitten too and we don't. I have bought expensive mite covers for his bed and put all of his stuffed animals away, everything. His sheets get washed every week! I have not seen any ants but hmmmmmmm

jessabean said...

Ew, biting ants! Glad you're in a new, bug free place now.

Suzanne said...

If forced to choose one pest, I'd take ants over roaches. Glad that you are away from the ants, and I hope your new place stays insect free. It'll be nice to see you tomorrow!!!

super des said...

amy jo - these ants weren't anywhere near water though. Crazy I tell you.

dd - either way, I'm glad I'm out.

jbeeky - he's just super sweet. And ants are very very tiny.

jb - me too!

suz - You know roaches are my last choice. They're not even my choice at all.

Frazzled Mom said...

Ouch! I've never had an ant bite. However I had a spider bite that became badly infected.

SUEB0B said...

Eeeeeh. I hate ants. I am being invaded now, but not by the biting kind, thank goodness.

Anonymous said...

mmmm...ants

super des said...

fraz - Ew, I'm hoping none become infected (though I think one may have already, but it's gone now)

suebob- I've never had the biting kind before. I don't know why they'd start now.

laura - ha ha I guess that's what I get for my own insightful comment!

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