State Park Report

The closest State Park to where I currently live* is Cedar Hill State Park.  It's in Cedar Hill, Texas, & according to Google maps, it's 31 miles away.  According the camp's website, linked above, "Argentine ants, an invasive species, are in some campsites at this park."

Holy shit!  Argentine ants!  What the fuck?  The ones that look like this (image from their Wikipedia page:

I hope that's not actual size!

The website continues: "The ants do not sting."

Oh.  Oh.  Okay.  Well.  Why should I care, then?  (Cue Wikipedia.)

"The ants are ranked among the world's 100 worst animal invaders. In its introduced range, the Argentine ant often displaces most or all native ants. This can, in turn, imperil other species in the ecosystem, such as native plants that depend on native ants for seed dispersal, or lizards that depend on native ants for food. For example, the recent severe decline in coastal horned lizards in southern California is closely tied to Argentine ants displacing native ant species on which the lizards feed."

So not only are they assholes, but also there are lizards who are like, "Have you tasted Argentine ants?  No thank you!  I'd rather let my species severely decline, thank you too damn much."

Still, they let dogs on their trails - some Texas parks don't do that - so it might be a nice place to go to take the dogs for a walk.  Something to think about, anyway.

"Please be prepared to treat around your vehicle & camping equipment."  Fucking Argentine ants!

* You remember I don't live in Kentucky anymore, right?