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lyrics

She stepped off of the boat in Mobile, Alabama
Sometime back in the thirties from her home in deep Brazil
She had six legs and a stinger, fire in her eyes
And the ability to recreate herself a billion times

She didn’t plan to come here, to become chaotic
Imported and exotic, she came against her will
She stalked the Southern states, from Florida to Texas
Gained a reputation as the Queen Ant of the Hill

Refrain
And they call her Queen Invicta (Ouch!)
Fire Ant Invincible (Ouch!)
Nothing here could stop her (Ouch!)
Predator or chemical

The horror stories then grew, like nutria and kudzu
Nobody knew what to do, to stop the fiery tide
And they sprayed the land with chlordane
They sprayed the land with Heptachlor
They sprayed the land with Mirex, but the ant refused to die

Puzzled entomologists, chemists and biologists
Bureaucrat apologists still wondered what to do
For climbing up the food chain, came Heptachlor and chlordane
The fire ants would remain, the chemicals would, too

Refrain

Pesticides persistent, created ants resistant
Eliminated natural foes, going about their business
The cure employed to hit them became worse than the symptom
The efforts to eradicate threatened the whole system

So they banned the searing spray, and they banned the deadly dust
Before they bring the Silent Spring springing up on us
This much we can say, the ant is here to stay
The final bill of over-kill is much to high to pay

Refrain

You who live in cities, you who live in neighborhoods
Fire ants, it’s understood, may come and take their stand
The males that die in nuptials, the queens that come in multiples,
The fire ant, combustible, is hard to understand

In backyards it’s no picnic, but think before you panic
This isn’t the Titanic: don’t give up the land

The poison preparations, blind exterminations
Research the implications, analyze your goal
Reactions based on bedlam may only serve to spread them
To some extent accept them, search for safe control

They call her Queen Invicta (Ouch!)
Fire Ant Invincible (Ouch!)
In our quest to stop her (Ouch!)
Let us first be sensible (Ouch!) (Ouch!) (Ouch!)

credits

from Have to Have a Habitat, released October 15, 2015

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Bill Oliver Austin, Texas

Bill Oliver: "Environmental Troubadour"

Over twenty years of concerts, campfires, and cafetoriums! Bill's programs are educational and entertaining, engaging and motivating. In schools, National Parks, and river-side celebrations, his songs bring to life the vital issues of Habitat conservation. ... more

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