Inspiration

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teen-aged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

I For One Welcome Our New Ant Overlords

With another blistering summer firing up and an in-place population of any number of unpleasant bugs and critters, life in Houston may be getting just a little more unpleasant as we find ourselves being invaded by a species of ant that seems to be impervious to pesticides and has an appetite for electronics.

Exotic Texas Ant, Paratrechina also known as the Crazy Ant or the “Raspberry Ant” (named for Tom Rasberry who discovered them) stands to make his mark our humble little town.

Mentioned at Engaget this horrifying little creature has captured the limelight and is making headlines all over the web.

They have been known to short out many different types of electrical apparatuses. In some cases the ants have caused several thousand dollars in damage and remedial costs. These ants often cause great annoyance to residents and businesses.

For now they seem to be mostly in the South and the East…near the chemical plants oddly enough.

(queue 50’s sci-fi music).


I’ve already had one support call where the user jokingly suggested the problem with our Blackberry Enterprise Server might be a result of Crazy Ant infestation…har har…Rasberry, Blackberry, get it? Ugh!

On the plus side, these “Crazy” Ants seem to eat Fire Ants so they could be a boon to our area.

Now playing – Cheepnis by Frank Zappa

Ladies and gentlemen,
The monster,
Which the peasants in this area call FRUNOBULAX
(Apparently a very large poodle dog)
Has just been seen approaching The Power Plant
Bullets can’t stop it
Rockets can’t stop it
We may have to use NUCLEAR FORCE !

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