Last night, I was distracted by watching traffic on 6th Avenue while Keely was sniffing around a bush. She bounced away and that’s when I realized she had stepped in and stuck her snout into a fire ant colony. These things are the stuff of nightmares, and I was immediately worried as she ran away (dragging me behind her) then started rolling around on the ground and rubbing her face against the sidewalk cement.
At that point I was freaking out, so dragged her home and literally threw her into the tub for a quick, cool bath with dog shampoo (fire ants can float, did you know? Don’t google that unless you never want to sleep again. Anyway the only way to get them off a dog is to use soap, which breaks the surface tension they use to stay alive in water). I then fed her a low-dose benadryl (vet recommended for these situations) that knocked her out for the night. I don’t think she suffered any bites? But I can’t tell for sure because her fur is so thick and cottony.
My main worry is that if she did get bitten, it might kick off another autoimmune reaction like she had in 2019 that nearly killed her. So yeah. I am freaking out just a little. *bites nails* She seems fine so far. I gave her another benadryl this morning just in case, and will keep a close eye out for symptoms. Owning a dog is like having your heart right out there for the world to step on.
All that said, we got out late for our walk, around 7 am. However, on the plus side, it was cloudy enough to stay on the cooler side despite the actual trufax 97% humidity (not an exaggeration! Office weather statistic right there!). It was bright enough for me to snap this shot of the cottages at Lake Ella from across the Cottage Green:
I talk about these cottages all the time so I figured it was past due for me to give my readers some context for what they look like. They are what is left of an old motel complex built in the 1920s. They are very cute and I’m so glad that someone in the past decided to make the pond into a park and to keep the cottages around.