As a kid after school and during the summer I played baseball in an empty lot behind Hart's Drive-In Grocery at Elam Road and Peachtree in Balch Springs, Texas. I inevitably ended up in the outfield not because of my fielding or throwing ability, but it was my fear of being hit with the ball in the infield. Only one neighborhood kid consistently hit the ball to right field so between and even during hitters I had time on my hands. I spent a lot of wonderful moments in the Texas heat annoying red ants.

        There seemed to be a big anthill every few feet and I delighted in poking a stick down the hole and watching the oddly infuriated ants foam out looking for something to bite. I went home early many times because an ant would finally bite into me. It was time for the vinegar and baking soda.

        I stand here now, watching these ants, trying to imagine what my grandfather would have to say if I told him I bought five containers of live ants. I don’t think I would even mention that I purchased a little bottle of water or a bag of dirt!

        There are 22 species of harvester ants in the United States, 10 of which are found in Texas. The life cycle begins when winged males and females swarm, couple and mate. Males die and the females find a nesting site where she lays a few eggs. Larvae hatch from the eggs and soon form a cocoon. Worker ants produced by the queen care for other developing ants, enlarge the nest and search for food. These ants’ mouthparts are designed for chewing and can give a painful stinging bite.

        These ants are food for our resident round-tailed horned lizard, AKA, "horny toad." Populations of the horned lizard and the harvester ant, on which it predominantly feeds, have all but disappeared in the eastern part of the state. This decline is attributed to the advance of the imported fire ants, insecticides, and disturbed habitats.