BITING, STINGING AND/OR
BLOOD FEEDERS OVERVIEW

OUCH!

Have You Just Been Bitten or Stung?

What you don't know can hurt you.

When it comes to bites and stings - prevention is your best medicine.

What can you do?

First, learn which creatures can bite or sting.

Next, understand what you can do to avoid a problem.

Last, know what to do and whom to call if you get bitten or stung.

How toxic are the venoms of stinging ants, bees and wasps? As Justin Schmidt noted: The sting of a tiny fire ant, which weights in at about three billionth of an ounce, can have a terrific impact on a huge person that weights about 10 million times as much as the ant. About 70,000 species of Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) can sting. I like to note only the females can sting you. We are all different and unique so we may only experience a little pain, or we may experience extreme pain and allergic reaction. Avoid being stung if at all possible!

How many Texans have felt the "sting" of fire ants? A Winter 2000 poll conducted 2/9-25/00 by the Scripps

Howard Data Center noted 79% of all polled Texans had been stung by fire ants and a majority of the residents had been treated for them in the past year. West Texans were least likely to have been stung (61%) as opposed to Central Texans (90%). Eastern Texans had been stung 89%, Southern Texans were stung 78% and 72% of Northern Texans that were polled noted they had been stung by fire ants. Of the Texans over 60 years old that were stung, 68% were treated, as compared to 37% of the 18 to 29 year olds that were stung by fire ants. Among those treated for fire ant stings, 51% were treated 4 or more times. The margin for error for the whole sample is + or - 3 percentage points, and slightly larger for the subgroups. I would like to add the best repellent for fire ants I have found is baby powder with talcum. No matter how much volatile pesticide poison "they" spray, the spray ants continually are increasing in numbers and in infested territory!

Help is simply a phone call away. If you are bitten or stung, call your local health care provider or physician to determine if you can be treated at home, need to be seen by a physician or should go directly to a hospital emergency department. If you can be treated at home, your health care provider should keep in phone contact with you by calling back and checking on your condition. If your condition worsens, you should go to the nearest emergency department or call the paramedics or an ambulance. The following suggestions are not intended to replace proper medical care. Always treat a small area before using any product, herb, oil, shampoo, soap, cleaner or material on your body.

Things you can do to prevent venomous bites or stings:
(It helps if you do not look or smell like a flower or wear flashy jewelry.)