# What You Get When You Pour Molten Aluminum Into An Ant Hill **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224 "2013-12-13T05:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/61 "2013-12-13T21:36:28Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Well, [this](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-Fire-Ant-Colony-Casting-043-/251397738345?pt=Art_Sculpture&hash=item3a88790f69) looks like the one in the video. It sold for $250.00 Very odd, because I followed **usedtobe** ’s link last night, and saw the price, and that link looks exactly like the listing, but with a lower price and earlier close. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/62 "2013-12-13T21:49:47Z")
Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/63 "2013-12-13T22:13:11Z")
1. Killing fire ants is, in my opinion, a justifiable responsibility for the species that displaced them. They have no natural place in the North American ecosystem and should be exterminated from that continent. Really. Anyone who has interacted with this species know them as worthy of nothing but death. Not just because I was attacked by a colony when I was 5 years old, but because I think we all agree that if an animal doesn’t have a plush toy of it, then it is suspect at best. Has anyone ever seen a fire ant plush toy? Hmmm? 2. Many folks my age used to have an ant farm. We were poor, so I made my own. Two pieces of glass and two old picture frames and it looked something close to the picture in the comic book. All, I needed was ants. I knew that the ants wandering around outside in the back yard weren’t the special kind you would need to have a self-sustaining colony, but I figured that I could just put them back outside when I was through studying them in the ant farm. That didn’t work out that well. No tunnels, just a bunch of dead ants on the top of my little frame of wood, glass and dirt. So, I don’t have much sympathy for ants just in general, as they crushed my childhood dreams of controlling them and by means of ant-power conquering the world. So there is that. 3. They are kind of creepy when you think about it. That whole hive mind idea reminds me of the Borg. Wait… hmmmm… You know, that might be a possible new experiment. You start with a colony of ants and then get Jeri Ryan to become one with the colony. 4. Profit! ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/64 "2013-12-13T22:18:19Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This is why I don’t eat or drink anything but water and why I hate vegetarians of all stripes. They’re all hypocrits. They say, “Oh, life is precious and you meat eaters should be ashamed of yourselves.” Yet they are perfectly happy and proud of themselves for murdering all those plants. :dubious: IKR - the mere thought of all that senseless slaughter leaves me feeling rather…Disgustipated. [QUOTE=Tool] …And I begged, “Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?” And the angel said unto me, “These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust.” And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat like the tears of one million terrified brothers and roared, “Hear me now, I have seen the light! They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers!” Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/65 "2013-12-13T22:22:43Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > 1 Not just because I was attacked by a colony when I was 5 years old, but because I think we all agree that if an animal doesn’t have a plush toy of it, then it is suspect at best. \*\* Has anyone ever seen a fire ant plush toy? \*\* Hmmm? [Yes](http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/gifts/friends/insects/red-ant-stuffed-f1800.htm). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/66 "2013-12-13T22:23:30Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Has anyone ever seen a fire ant plush toy? Hmmm? You mean like this? [http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Microbes-Solenopsis-invicta-Plush/dp/B001GRGQI6](http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Microbes-Solenopsis-invicta-Plush/dp/B001GRGQI6) ETA: ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/67 "2013-12-13T22:58:12Z")
That thing is so cool! I want one. The wiki entry on fire ants show just how [bad they can be](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant#Invasive_species). > [@](#): > > In the US the FDA estimates that more than US$5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in RIFA-infested areas. Furthermore, the ants cause approximately $750 million in damage annually to agricultural assets, including veterinarian bills and livestock loss, as well as crop loss. > [@](#): > > The venom of fire ants is composed of alkaloids derived from piperidine (see Solenopsis saevissima). Some people are allergic to the venom, and as with many allergies, may experience anaphylaxis, which requires emergency treatment. Other problems are concentrated to the site of the sting. > The sting swells into a bump, which can cause much pain and irritation, especially when several stings are in the same place. The bump often forms into a white pustule, which can become infected if scratched, but if left alone will usually flatten within a few days. The pustules are obtrusive and uncomfortable while active and, if they become infected, can cause scarring. > [@](#): > > Severe allergic reactions to fire ant stings, including severe chest pain, nausea, severe sweating, loss of breath, serious swelling, and slurred speech, can be fatal if not treated. Fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/68 "2013-12-13T23:08:58Z")
Ants. Fuck 'em. (And if you’d ever encountered them coming out of the woodwork in your home in Thailand, you’d say, “And that goes double from me!”) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/69 "2013-12-13T23:41:52Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Spoken like someone who has never seen their three year old child step barefoot into a fire ant mound. Now _that_ is something i would watch on Youtube! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/70 "2013-12-13T23:48:09Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I had a chicken sandwich for lunch, which means that everyone in the supply chain (me included) decided that the chicken didn’t have a right to live. I was hungry, so I paid (albeit indirectly) to have a chicken killed for my lunch. > > If I’m OK with killing innocent chickens for lunch, why would you be surprised that I’m not bothered by someone killing pestilent ants, and making art in the process? > > Are you disturbed by the manner of their death (contact with molten metal), or merely the fact that they’re being killed? Do you tend to stare in horror as your neighbor saturates a yellowjacket nest with permethrin, leaving its residents writhing uncontrollably on the ground? Don’t look at me, we did go out and grab a chicken and kill it for supper this evening. I avoided the whole supply chain thing. I bought the chicks that originated my flock, I bought the feed that raised several generations of chickens culminating in this particular one, though I didn’t actively chase it down or wring its little neck, I did pluck, gut and kosher it. It is currently in the oven cooking with a bit of salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic and baby potatoes. It smells yummy. So yes, I committed murder, tasty, tasty murder. 😛 I am an omnivore. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/71 "2013-12-13T23:51:49Z")
Another fun thing about fire ants, for those that have never had the pleasure, is that they don’t start stinging you right away. So you might not feel them crawling on you until there are a quite a lot of them - and then they attack all at once. On one occasion I looked down to see 50-200 of them on my leg. I didn’t count them but there was a bunch. > [@](#): > > So, what makes red imported fire ants so much worse than other ants? Well, there is only one way to describe these colonies: militarized. A fire ant army is a war machine. If a person accidentally wanders into a fire ant mound, the workers will immediately begin swarming up to exposed skin. But, they won’t attack right away. They actually wait until a larger number of soldiers gain access to the prey. Then, they release a chemical as a signal, and all the ants attack at once to inflict the most damage. > > Most people say they have been “bitten” by an ant, but serious ant encounters have nothing to do with bites. Some species of ants (though not all) are equipped with stingers, just like a wasp, and these stingers do the damage. However, fire ants are quite smart. While they are waiting for the attack signal, the ants use their powerful jaws to latch onto a hair or the skin of their victims. Then, when they begin to sting, they are very difficult to brush off and are more likely to be able to deliver multiple stings per ant. from here: [http://www.russellspest.com/red-imported-fire-ants-the-insect-army/](http://www.russellspest.com/red-imported-fire-ants-the-insect-army/) ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/72 "2013-12-14T01:16:54Z")
Entomologist here. Fire ants are an introduced pest of significant economic cost, not to mention nuisence and public hazard. Death by molten metal is too good for them. This technique was developed by my colleague Walter Tschinkel at florida state. 2 main problems i have with the enay guy are 1) people being motivated to do this with native ants, and 2) someone accidently starting a forest fire. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/73 "2013-12-14T01:19:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Don’t look at me, we did go out and grab a chicken and kill it for supper this evening. I avoided the whole supply chain thing. I bought the chicks that originated my flock, I bought the feed that raised several generations of chickens culminating in this particular one, though I didn’t actively chase it down or wring its little neck, I did pluck, gut and kosher it. It is currently in the oven cooking with a bit of salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic and baby potatoes. It smells yummy. > > So yes, I committed murder, tasty, tasty murder. 😛 I am an omnivore. 😃 And the difference between what you did, and what they did to the bugs they pecked out of the dirt, is that you cared if the creature lived and died humanely. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/74 "2013-12-14T01:51:57Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > So yes, I committed murder, tasty, tasty murder. 😛 I am an omnivore. 😃 PETA stand for **P** eople **E** ating **T** asty **A** nimals ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/75 "2013-12-14T02:03:19Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Surprising amount of **Ant** ropocentric viewpoints in this thread! No, it’s an arthropodcentric view. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/76 "2013-12-14T02:18:32Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > I can’t seem to understand why the majority of people have no moral or ethical obligations to this. Vermin or not, they’re living creatures. They don’t have a right to live and exist because we say so? I wish I knew more people with hearts this tender. I think it would be good for me. Out-Jaining Jains… Loved the video, though. I’d do it in a heartbeat. Next: what happens when you focus a solar-farm mirror array on an ant hill… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/77 "2013-12-14T02:33:31Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > Some of us believe that the ant isn’t able to understand suffering or cruelty. It would be akin to harvesting wheat, or turning off a computer. Or, Life is Cheap When You’re an Ant. From some of the above posts, one might wonder if everyone here knows what fire ants are? tl;dr: They’re the ground-based equivalent of Killer Bees. They bite like fire, and not just individually. If you disturb their nest, they swarm _en masse_ and nip at you by the hundreds or thousands. You come out looking like that dude Pope Francis hugged a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/78 "2013-12-14T04:30:38Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > There’s something fishy about that video. The first scene showed him pouring molten metal into the mouth of a man-made mound, not an ant mound. See the grooves on one side made by human fingers? > > The next scene showed him digging up the cast. Note that that top was flat still with grass on it. It definitely was not the cast made in the first scene. If he poured it into a volcanic “neck” then the cast should have a bottom “stem.” > > But then again, the idea isn’t so far fetched. Maybe he made a collage purely for demonstration. There’s no stem because he stopped pouring before it topped out. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/79 "2013-12-14T04:34:27Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Yes Seriously, we shipped out Molten Aluminum. They had to be delivered in two or three hours for it to stay molten. > > They have done it Canada too. In winter. Molten steel travels by rail in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224/80 "2013-12-14T04:55:50Z")
Immediate thoughts on seeing this video: 1) Cool. 2) Too bad one of them got away. When I lived in Texas, I had a hollowed out stump in the garden that was a preferred nesting place for fire ants. I used to pour boiling water into it. It never kept them down for long. I’d wager no one protesting the immorality of pouring molten metal in a fire ant mound has ever been attacked by a legion of these creatures. As noted, they will swarm you and by the time you notice something’s wrong there are dozens stinging and you will do quite the exotic dance, swearing and stomping around until you can dislodge them. Then, after the pain abates you can look forward to a few days of itching and loathsome pustules. So instant death for fire ants by molten metal sounds quite humane to me.\* \*I have lived in the Midwest far from fire ant country for a dozen years, and still sometimes when I’m outdoors and feel a bug crawling on me I flash back to my Texas days, and do a fast check to make sure I’m not under fire ant attack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-you-get-when-you-pour-molten-aluminum-into-an-ant-hill/676224.md?page=5)