Stung twice by bull ants..!!

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Ozhaggishead

Nomad
Dec 8, 2007
463
0
53
Sydney
www.flickr.com
Helle harding knife $120,camera $200,tripod $30...Geting stung twice once on each arm by bull ants on camera priceless

[video=youtube_share;zrxIorEOllI]http://youtu.be/zrxIorEOllI[/video]
 

pango

Nomad
Feb 10, 2009
380
6
69
Fife
Hi Ozzhaggishead, I'd just like to ask if you keep your knife finely honed?, 'cos it was your right nipple I was worried about.

I suppose it would be too much to hope that you have footage of the following 5 minutes.

I do sympathise, honest! :lmao:

Cheers mate,

Pango.
 

Pict

Settler
Jan 2, 2005
611
0
Central Brazil
clearblogs.com
Interesting. I have seen that reaction to bug attacks often. The first sting is treated as an anomaly, the second always registers as a mass attack requiring a quick change of venue. Wise to step off camera as the next thing you probably did was to check your shorts so to speak.

Ants are the bane of my existence here in Brazil. Our local jungle has over 400 species and some of them are quite aggressive. We have had them chop a 9 inch hole in a tent, cut down a hammock off a tree, tear big chunks out of a machete sheath, cut holes through a canvas bag, etc. I got a leg-full once through a hole in my pants at the knee.

There is a species that lives in our grasslands here that creates a large loose mound of dried leaf matter, usually hidden by tall grass. If you step into it you sink in to the shin and your entire foot will be covered with them. We had a student once slip off of a trail and crash down through a pile of debris held up by a fallen tree. We pulled him out and immediately started beating him to remove about 40 +/- large "Azteca" ants that had swarmed over him. It would have made classic video as he didn't know he was covered with ants and thought it was some sort of hazing for falling off the trail.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,713
1,958
Mercia
Hi Ozzhaggishead, I'd just like to ask if you keep your knife finely honed?, 'cos it was your right nipple I was worried about.

Looked like a good demonstration of a chest lever cut to me - a very useful technique

Hi Oz - how you doing mate - long time no see. Are there pheremones released when you slap the first one that trigger an attack from others? Certainly bee alarm pheromones will do this - don't know if it works with ants?
 

Ozhaggishead

Nomad
Dec 8, 2007
463
0
53
Sydney
www.flickr.com
Interesting. I have seen that reaction to bug attacks often. The first sting is treated as an anomaly, the second always registers as a mass attack requiring a quick change of venue. Wise to step off camera as the next thing you probably did was to check your shorts so to speak.

Ants are the bane of my existence here in Brazil. Our local jungle has over 400 species and some of them are quite aggressive. We have had them chop a 9 inch hole in a tent, cut down a hammock off a tree, tear big chunks out of a machete sheath, cut holes through a canvas bag, etc. I got a leg-full once through a hole in my pants at the knee.

There is a species that lives in our grasslands here that creates a large loose mound of dried leaf matter, usually hidden by tall grass. If you step into it you sink in to the shin and your entire foot will be covered with them. We had a student once slip off of a trail and crash down through a pile of debris held up by a fallen tree. We pulled him out and immediately started beating him to remove about 40 +/- large "Azteca" ants that had swarmed over him. It would have made classic video as he didn't know he was covered with ants and thought it was some sort of hazing for falling off the trail.

I heard all sorts of story's of crazy jungle ants like the bullet ants..We have some nasty things in OZ but noting as crazy as hammock munching ant.!!!Ants here are painful but mostly harmless unless you get hit something 20 times at once.I hate the mozzies much more can carry things like Ross river fever.Also the ticks which I have had in some not so nice places..Oh yes and the leaches!!

Looked like a good demonstration of a chest lever cut to me - a very useful technique

Hi Oz - how you doing mate - long time no see. Are there pheremones released when you slap the first one that trigger an attack from others? Certainly bee alarm pheromones will do this - don't know if it works with ants?

Not sure if ants use pheremones but I say there is some kind of chemical triggers at play.Often you will get bitten a few times in short order.Thinking back the first bite was not that bad like a test second was more off a full on attack.

Is it a sting or a bite?




Orric

Good point,yes really is a bite from a ant not a sting.

That's nothing. Me and the girlfriend were having some naked adult fun in the garden when I got bit on the nadgers by an ant. Almost put me off my rhythm.

Lol..Where is a moderator when you need one!!
 

Pict

Settler
Jan 2, 2005
611
0
Central Brazil
clearblogs.com
I don't know if it is the same all over but here the ants will walk around on you for a while before biting. Termites will start munching away upon contact.

The hammock story was actually pretty funny. We have a tree here called the Embauba, hollow, fast growing, soft wood, great for friction fire. They have no lower limbs and the temptation is to tie off to them for the night, not recommended. The hollow center is typically colonized by a species of ants that lives in a symbiotic relationship with the tree. They will fiercely defend the tree from anything that comes in contact with it. We have vines that creep up all the trees but you never see vines attached to an Embauba, the ants trim them off.

One of our students tied up to an Embauba for the night. Around midnight he heard a "TWAP!" One of his hammock lines had snapped. OK, an apparent anomaly. A few minutes later, "TWAP!" He got out to check and sure enough a few dozen ants had swarmed his rigging like pirates. He moved his hammock (one of mine) and they all parted friends. I still have to fix that hammock.

I am so attuned to watching for ants. Last year I was cutting a pole with my machete and holding it with my left hand. The bark was covered with little black spots that registered as !ANTS! so I quickly tossed the pole and checked myself over. This would be fairly normal but I was in Pennsylvania in the dead of winter standing in four inches of snow. That's OK, I also watch for snakes in the snow and try to snap off "dead" green twigs from leafless trees while collecting firewood. I don't realize how programmed I am to jungle until I leave it.
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,426
619
Knowhere
I had the misfortune to sit down on an ants nest once, wearing shorts. It didn't take long for the little buggers to take advantage and bite me on the backside.
 

S.C.M.

Nomad
Jul 4, 2012
257
0
Algarve, Portugal
we have a few different types of ant over here, small red-headed ones, small black ones and some really annoying ones which are big, long-legged ones. the big ones seem to take extreme pleasure out of climbing up your leg/through your clothing and getting into the tightest spots they can find, like between your toes, back of your knee and then biting you. other times, they will walk up to you and bite the nearest thing they can... its like sometimes they want to see if you are food and other times they walk on you, get bored, then bite to see what happens. Silly things, ants. Thankfully though, they don't bite through hammocks and bags.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE