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Bass player vs ants: ants win

Don’t forget the cute little octopus with bright blue circles, the Blue Ringed Octopus. Not sure of their environment, but I do know you need to watch your step in rocky tidal pools, these little guys, & Stonefish, can be hard to see.
Thanks for reminding me, I'd forgotten about the blue ringed octopus, the world's most deadly (octopus )
At least you can protect yourself against the wildlife! If you think meat ants are bad, wait until you meet the humble green ant. If they see you nearby they'll call all their mates over to come and eat you. They live in nests in the trees, if you disturb said nest then lookout! They won't do any lasting harm to you but they do like their pound of flesh.

Sounds a bit like our bull ants

Green ants will even build a bridge (out of ants) just to get to you!

I can believe it. The bull ants over here are extremely aggressive. If you stand within a metre of their nest, they'll send out a company of soldiers that'll pursue you, and if you don't beat a hasty retreat, walk up your trouser leg, then sting you to within an inch of your life.

Maybe if you still had the 78 J that was 15 lbs. the ants would have avoided you?
I'm 60 this year and I could barely stand up and play that thing in my twenties. Man, that was a heavy bass.

Those are some bigass ants! I just looked them up. I thought we had it bad with fire ants in Florida, but I have never seen ants that big.

Btw, Wiki says they’re called meat ants because they can strip a carcass of flesh In pretty short order.

Try these Jimmy. These are the bull ants I mentioned. They're three times the size of the meat ants, and sting like nobody's business - very painful - BUT if they cross the meat ants' path, the latter will swarm all over them and kill them by sheer weight of numbers.

bull ant.jpg

The problem is, you didn’t play this…


I do like that song

I would love to hear a jazz version of Antmusic! I loved Adam And The Ants back in the day. Started out hating them, then got into how awesome Marco Pirroni was on guitar. For me he made that band.

Yes, great band. As much as I enjoy Ant Music, I like Stand And Deliver even better
 
I would love to hear a jazz version of Antmusic! I loved Adam And The Ants back in the day. Started out hating them, then got into how awesome Marco Pirroni was on guitar. For me he made that band.
I'd like to see an Art Blakey & the Art Messengers version of Antmusic but it probably ain't gonna happen. As a kid in the 80s I thought Adam Ant was very hard core, I mean that pirate suit combined with Native American make up.
 
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Australia was once described to me (I've never been), as 25 million alcoholics clinging to a rock, and trying not to be killed by the wildlife. How true is this?

A lot of Australia's Caucasian population came originally from England sending folks otherwise bound for jail to the place. Then again, in the USA we have Georgia, which was populated in largely the same manner. Other states were populated by other types of European societal "misfits" - Australia has a LOT in common with the USA in that department.

We both have sharks, gators/crocs, snakes and plenty of land predators that'll eat a human in certain circumstances. I don't think there's really that much difference.

Stats:
Alcohol Consumption by Country 2023

Australia is "ahead" of the USA by about 5 % in terms of consumption - pretty comparable. Western Europeans (Including the UK) consume more than either of us. The "colonies" drink less than where the people came from.
 
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Reminds me of a short story I picked up out of a pile of newly donated books to my elementary school & couldn’t put down, about a man trying to fend off an swarm of ants in the Amazon. My mouth dropped when my plan fell thru: “they make Boats?!” So much for only Humans being able to use tools. I guess kids would like the story since they put on raincoats & boots and play in the Summer rain showers, the puddles & the mini rivers. There also were much fewer nature documentaries available then, let alone about the Amazon Rainforest. Years later I was disappointed by a movie based on the story because there was too much talking & not enough detail about trying to survive the ants. Years later, I rewatched “The Naked Jungle” & appreciated it more than the first time, especially the acting performances by Charlton Heston & the criminally underrated Eleanor Parker, in spite of the problems with the script. Still worth a watch of the lemonade Ms. Parker made.

I had to look up the title of the story: "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson

There was a movie adaptation of that story as well, starring Charleton Heston, called "The Naked Jungle" 1954. It's a decent but dated film and worth a watch but I liked the literary version best.
 
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Once again Australia showing us that everything there is apt to kill you. I remember Steve Irwin (RIP) was fielding questions on a TV show, and the interviewer asked him about hippos. Irwin quicky replied, "Nope. I don't mess with hippos." If Irwin is out, then it's a safe bet to stay away.
 
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I don't think we get it so bad down here in Australia, though on the ant front we have some beauties, down in Tasmania there's the 'Jack Jumper Ant', about a centimeter long and a bite like a Bull Ant, but they can jump about 30 inches upwards, so they don't need to crawl up your leg to get you. :D

Overall though very few people get killed each year by any of our insects, spiders, snakes, or sea life, apart from sharks which take a few people each year, but that applies in plenty of places around the world. Still we don't have bears (Koalas don't count), big cats, animals with rabies and some of the other stuff you folks in the US have to deal with. Life anywhere is swings and roundabouts isn't it.
 
I don't think we get it so bad down here in Australia, though on the ant front we have some beauties, down in Tasmania there's the 'Jack Jumper Ant', about a centimeter long and a bite like a Bull Ant, but they can jump about 30 inches upwards, so they don't need to crawl up your leg to get you. :D

Overall though very few people get killed each year by any of our insects, spiders, snakes, or sea life, apart from sharks which take a few people each year, but that applies in plenty of places around the world. Still we don't have bears (Koalas don't count), big cats, animals with rabies and some of the other stuff you folks in the US have to deal with. Life anywhere is swings and roundabouts isn't it.
Here in W.A. we have two different kinds of jumper ants that I've seen up close. There's an iridescent greenish-black variety, and another with a black head and abdomen, and bright red thorax. They're extremely aggressive.
 
Here in W.A. we have two different kinds of jumper ants that I've seen up close. There's an iridescent greenish-black variety, and another with a black head and abdomen, and bright red thorax. They're extremely aggressive.

Yes, the ones in Tassie likewise. There's also a fairly large ant down there and less common in Victoria, but I've seen a few here, called an 'Inchman" ant, I'm sure you can work out why the name. Never been bitten by one and they don't seem very aggressive, but I wouldn't like to stand in a mob of them... A striking iridescent blue/green ant is fairly common in Tassie, though it's actually a wingless wasp, they're a fair bit bigger than an Inchman and put their tails up is you get to close. Apparently bull ants ae a primitive form of wingless wasp too, though it doesn't matter what they are if the little b.....s bite you.
 
Yes, the ones in Tassie likewise. There's also a fairly large ant down there and less common in Victoria, but I've seen a few here, called an 'Inchman" ant, I'm sure you can work out why the name. Never been bitten by one and they don't seem very aggressive, but I wouldn't like to stand in a mob of them... A striking iridescent blue/green ant is fairly common in Tassie, though it's actually a wingless wasp, they're a fair bit bigger than an Inchman and put their tails up is you get to close. Apparently bull ants ae a primitive form of wingless wasp too, though it doesn't matter what they are if the little b.....s bite you.
Interesting stuff. We get the wingless wasps here to. They look like a very large, hairy ant.

I still remember my first encounter with bull ants. I was about five and was with dad in the bush. I must have wandered too close to a nest because I remember them swarming up my legs and stinging me. LOL
 
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I don't think we get it so bad down here in Australia, though on the ant front we have some beauties, down in Tasmania there's the 'Jack Jumper Ant', about a centimeter long and a bite like a Bull Ant, but they can jump about 30 inches upwards, so they don't need to crawl up your leg to get you. :D

Overall though very few people get killed each year by any of our insects, spiders, snakes, or sea life, apart from sharks which take a few people each year, but that applies in plenty of places around the world. Still we don't have bears (Koalas don't count), big cats, animals with rabies and some of the other stuff you folks in the US have to deal with. Life anywhere is swings and roundabouts isn't it.
You forgot the drop bears! They'll surely get you if you aren't careful! ;)
 
Yes, the ones in Tassie likewise. There's also a fairly large ant down there and less common in Victoria, but I've seen a few here, called an 'Inchman" ant, I'm sure you can work out why the name. Never been bitten by one and they don't seem very aggressive, but I wouldn't like to stand in a mob of them... A striking iridescent blue/green ant is fairly common in Tassie, though it's actually a wingless wasp, they're a fair bit bigger than an Inchman and put their tails up is you get to close. Apparently bull ants ae a primitive form of wingless wasp too, though it doesn't matter what they are if the little b.....s bite you.


Does Tassie = Tasmania? Someone who uses another English dialect wants to know what that Jawn is.