The Cellar Image of the Day

The last couple years the weather seems to have become more intense for some areas.
Record highs and lows, blizzard, tornado, and flood... oh yes, the floods.
We've seen heart wrenching photos of people, and critters, clawing their way higher and higher, fleeing the flood waters.

These are Australian Meat Ants...

For some reason, I'm having trouble summoning a lot of empathy here.

OK everyone, in Indiana Jone's voice:
Meat Ants.. Why'd it have to be Meat Ants. I hate Meat Ants.

I suppose that's a kangaroo torso they're partying on?

Speaking of which, Ali, are you about? <taps Ali's computer monitor from the inside>

ETA: Hmmm. Not seen since 20/12/2010 (in that format 'cause she's an Aussie

).
Lives in the general Brisbane area. You know, the one that's had over 400 mm of rain in the last week. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/rain/...d=week&area=qd

I think they have a boat. Good.

Meat ants
Meat ants
Meat ants meat ants meat ants meat ants meat ants
Du-du-du-du

(sung to the tune of The Pink Panther.)

'Cause Lady Gaga gives me the creeparonis, and I never actually saw her meat dress so I didn't know you'd changed it.

"We've secretly replaced Lady Gaga's meat dress with a meat ANT dress. Let's see if she notices."

Just using this as a "Queensland flood pictures" thread.

Attachment 30665

I'm not sure if this is a rescue or grocery shopping.

I'm glad to hear they're ok.

How come NPR reporters don't say Brisbane with an Aussie accent?

ants that size give me the creeps. along with roaches too.

i like the pouch idea, only you wouldn't want to put your beer in there. get it all warm n stuff....

I don't think I can take it, because it took so long to bake it and I'll never have that recipe again ...

Those meat ants are nasty suckers. They'll clean up a carcass in next to no time.

Where's the mortein?

I remember seeing a PBS show when I was a kid about a kind of ant that lived in Africa, I think, that built a large circle of hills and if any living creature come into the center of the circle it would be devoured before it could escape. That included horses, according to the narrator.

I haven't been able to find out if that is true. I seem to think it was on "The Ascent of Man" program, but I'm not certain.

I think it is this ant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siafu

Quote:

The ants march through the forests in groups of millions, eating anything that moves and severely impacting the local environment (even elephants run from them). The term "killer ant" usually applies to this species simply because of the magnitude of the colony sizes (over 20 million individuals). When in large transit, the ants travel in long columns on the forest floor, with the stronger class of ants on opposite sides flanking in ready position - jaws ready. They are so strong in fact, that you can tear the ant in two after it bit into your skin and its jaw will still be locked in position. In East Africa, emergency situations call for using the actual jaws of the Siafu ants as 'stitches', sealing off open wounds.

The reason why this species is so deadly is the fact that the ants are virtually unstoppable as they move together in full force. Anything that gets in the way is eaten to the bone - no exceptions. The columns are easy to avoid but sometimes they come across human homes, in which case the potential to kill becomes greater.

There was a MacGyver episode about ants like that once.

Oh look, the Interwebs has a MacGyver wiki. I knew it would.