Meddling Men Most Likely At Fault

Clint Van Vleet makes his living raising dairy cattle near Sulphur Springs. These days, when he looks out at his 120 acres he wonders if it’s not fire ants he’s tending instead.

“You can’t walk 20 feet in any direction and not run into a fire ant mound,” he said over the phone. Van Vleet was reacting to an editorial our paper carried, reprinted elsewhere, that said mankind’s encroachment on natural habitat was causing Texas wildlife to disappear. He said we picked the wrong culprit.

Fire ants “are by far a larger problem to wildlife than is man at this time,” he said.

Van Vleet said that in just three years once-plentiful wildlife like rabbits, armadillos and foxes have virtually vanished on his property. He said fire ants endanger any species that cares for its young on the ground or burrows.

His call raised an interesting question. Which is the chief culprit - fire ant or man?

The answer from experts in the fields of entomology and wildlife management was just as interesting. Though conclusive proof is lacking, the farmer’s concerns about fire ants are legitimate. But so were the editorial’s concerns about man. Based on a “gut feeling” more than anything backed by extensive research, Texas A&M entomologist Bradleigh Vinson said he’s convinced that imported fire ants do deplete Texas’ native wildlife.

Ants go to moisture and therefore to creatures born on the ground. Once there, they find more moisture, like a creature’s eyes or mouth.

Researchers know of small animals, like the cotton rat and pygmy mouse, that instinctively manage to avoid fire ants when giving birth. But others, like rabbits and moles, are very susceptible. Maybe the reason why Van Vleet sees so few rabbits, armadillos and more on his property is because they’ve moved to less hostile habitat than grazed land.

A&M’s Vinson said land grazed or cleared for development is ideal for imported fire ants to set up shop. By contrast, the entomologist has some property of his own that has remained in its natural state. He’s found that, undisturbed, such habitat doesn’t get overrun by imported fire ants.

Ironically, the balance in undisturbed habitat includes native ants. In pitched battles, they manage to hold down the population of imported invaders. In natural surroundings these native ants are like Afghanistani guerrillas protecting the motherland. But in cleared habitat, South American fire ants overwhelm the land because they’re so prolific in reproducing.

Markus Peterson of the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife said that one of the problems posed by imported fire ants is their appetite for the bugs that sustain avian life.

The bobwhite quail population is severely diminished in Eastern Texas, and one key reason may be fire ants, Peterson said. Wild turkey, prairie chicken and other fowl may feel the same pinch.

“But if you have good habitat you still have the birds there,” he said. As with all in nature’s continuum, it’s a matter of balance.

Parks and Wildlife biologist David Rideout pointed out that imported fire ants are just one example of non-native species which have caused disruptions in Texas ecosystems. They include European carp, starlings, English sparrows and, of course, grackles.

Good ant, bad ant. Good bird, bad bird. It’s confusing, but crystal clear in one regard. Nature has a means of controlling itself. Whenever nature gets out of control, a good bet is it can be traced to man.

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