FireRANT

Ahem.  It's been a while, but we haven't forgotten how to rant.  Our apologies if you've missed us.  Things are quite hectic at FireRANT headquarters! 

In case you were wondering, here's what a little update of what we've been up to lately. 

We spent some time in Marietta, Ga. for a great event called Fire Ant Free! Atlanta.  More than 1,000 people showed up and learned all about fire ants from some of the country's top fire ant experts.  Our thanks goes out to: Tim Davis, Clemson University; Vicky Bertagnolli, Fudd Graham, and Micky Eubanks from Auburn University, and fire ant freelancer Dr. Charles Barr, as well as gracious host, The Home Depot.  The highlight of the event was definitely seeing the look on the faces of kids and parents from Marietta's East Cobb Christian School when they found out they won the $5,000 Fire Ant Free! Grant, the result of being the top participating organization at the event.  We love this stuff!

We're also participating in a fantastic community project in New Orleans, in conjunction with the Louisana State University AgCenter, called FAST (Fire Ant Surge Threat).  As we've blogged about before, Hurricane Katrina virtually decimated the fire ant population in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes.  We're working with the fine folks at LSU, including Dr. Linda Hooper-Bui and Dr. Dale Pollet, in treating areas that are seeing an upswing in fire ants. 

Though a healthy chunk of the population was swept out to sea, some colonies are starting to re-infest the area.  This is the result of a natural progression, but also from people importing sod and trees that may be ripe with fire ants, in an attempt to beautify their yards.

It's a great program and we're very excited to be helping out in the New Orleans area.  The last thing anyone there needs to worry about are fire ants.

We'll leave you with one last thought today.  Do you love fire ants?