Ants

This item is more suited to a weekend posting, but I heard it on the BBC News this morning on 89.9 AllClassical.org. The quotation in bold below made me smile.

Malaysian monks at a Buddhist temple in Georgetown on Penang Island are being troubled by fire ants. The ants are living in the temple’s sacred bodhi tree, dropping onto people meditating below and causing bites with painful swelling. Buddhism forbids harming any living creature.

The Venerable Boon Keng, the chief monk, practices what he calls “letting go” meditation, that is, he “lets go” of the pain. But “the chief monk says that if someone turns up unbidden and deals with them without the monks’ involvement then that is the will of the universe.”

I have no qualms about killing bugs in my house, although I try to leave them alone outside in their space. Our neighborhood gets a lot of “Odorous House Ant” invasions. Ant control is often a lively discussion at the winter party at my home. My proven favorite is Terro Liquid pre-filled bait traps. Works every time. Not sure how effective it might be on Malaysian fire ants.