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I am becoming increasingly convinced that if I dig just two feet down at any place in my yard, I will dig into a huge underground sea of fire ants. It may spread for miles and miles.
Why else would it be that I can dump granules “guaranteed to kill the queen, destroy the colony, and wreak general mayhem on antdom,” and within hours find a new hill just two feet away from the old one?
The ants just scoff at my efforts and move a few doors down. I swear that I’ve heard a chorus of subterranean laughter as I patrolled my yard for ant hills.
And the sad part is that we brought them here on purpose! They were supposed to do away with boll weevils.
As any cotton farmer knows, the weevil is a tiny beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. It migrated into the United States in the late 1800s and quickly began to do terrible damage to the cotton crop all across the South. Some scientists say it has been the single most destructive pest in the history of U.S. agriculture.
The weevil came here from South America, so scientists who were fighting its early spread decided to look there for a natural enemy. Studying up on it, they found out that big red ants just loved to eat weevils, so they caught some and turned them loose in Texas.
It seemed to work. The Abbeville Meridional reported in October 1904 that agriculture authorities in Washington had announced that “there has been no loss of the ants which were brought to Texas from Guatemala. … The department declares the ants are doing well, eating their fill of the pest.”
“This will be pleasant news to Texans,” the Meridional forecast, and also pointed out that the experiment “will also be interesting to others who have studied the principals of the survival of the fittest.”
Guess who “the fittest” turned out to be. Not only do fire ants eat boll weevils, but a whole lot of other stuff. According the U.S. agriculture department, today we spend more than $5 billion annually for treatment of bites on people, for crop and other damage they cause — and for “control” of the pests. Swarming ants can kill small animals and can sting humans like the devil.
(Yes, sting. The ants bite just to get a good grip on you. Then they stick you with a stinger full of poison.)
And it looks like the boll weevils were survivors, too. The ants feasted on them, but the weevils kept spreading — so much so that by 1915 a state convention of cotton growers adopted a resolution calling for no cotton at all to be planted in Louisiana for a year. The farm experts said fire ants couldn’t eat them all, and it was the only way to get rid of the weevil infestation
They said planting corn instead of cotton for a year would also help diversify Louisiana crops and would push up the price when the next cotton crop was planted.
As one large farmer argued, even if the planters took a bit of a loss in 1915 by not growing cotton, it would be no worse than the losses already brought on by bugs and exhausted land, and “as they will have no boll weevil and a good price, they could easily pay any balance they might owe [when the 1916 crop came in].”
As we know, that didn’t work either; it was not until we began using DDT and other chemicals years later that farmers finally were able to almost eradicate the weevil.
It turns out the DDT wasn’t such a great idea, either. It was banned in the United States in 1972, but we’ve got some other stuff to spray on the weevils. Meanwhile, fire ants continue to make a good living on the farm and in my yard and point their little antennae at me and laugh out loud when I try to do something about it.
I suppose I can take some solace that those killer wasps that everyone is talking about haven’t got here yet. But they probably will, and I have a pretty good idea of where they will land first when they do.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, Cajuns and Other Characters, is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

IBERIA PARISH – Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on August 7, 2020, Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop I began investigating a two-vehicle fatal crash involving a bicycle on LA Hwy 14 near LA Hwy 676 in Iberia Parish. The crash took the life of an unidentified male.
The initial investigation by State Police revealed the crash occurred as the bicyclist was traveling westbound on a red Raleigh Mountain Trail bicycle in the center of the outside travel lane of LA 14. At the same time, a 2003 Ford Escape was being driven westbound in the same lane on LA Hwy 14. The bicycle was not equipped with any lights on the front or the rear. As the driver of the Escape approached the bicycle from the rear, she was unable to avoid the bicycle. As a result, the Escape struck the rear of the bicycle, ejecting the bicyclist.
The unidentified bicyclist was pronounced dead on the scene by the Iberia Parish Coroner’s Office. A toxicology sample was obtained from the bicyclist and the results are pending. The driver of the Escape was properly restrained and was uninjured. A breath sample was obtained from the driver of the Escape which indicated no alcohol in her system and no signs of impairment were observed. This crash remains under investigation.
Bicyclists should never assume that motorists can see them. Louisiana Revised Statute 32:329.1 states that bicyclists cannot ride on a state highway, parish road, or city street between sunset and sunrise unless their bicycle is equipped with lamps and reflectors. Furthermore, LRS 32:197 states that bicyclists should ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable. Troopers would like to remind bicyclists that simple precautions such as using proper lighting, wearing reflective materials, and obeying all traffic laws are vital in preventing crashes.
Troop I has investigated 31 fatal crashes resulting in 34 deaths since the beginning of 2020.

November 22, 1965 ~ July 24, 2020

“To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” 2 Corinthians 5:8

ABBEVILLE — A Christian Burial for Robert Cleoper (Bobby) Scott, 54, will be at 10:00 AM on Saturday, August 8, 2020, at Vincent Funeral Home – Abbeville with Rev. Arthur Johnson officiating. Interment will follow in St. Paul Cemetery, 515 Jacqulyn St., Abbeville. Honorary pallbearers will be Rennie Scott, Keith Scott, Herman Ricky Scott, Wilbert Conaway, Mann Ball, and Wayne Hooper.  
Robert Cleoper (Bobby) Scott was born in Kilmarnock, Virginia to the union of Elizabeth T. and Herman L. Scott of Remo, Virginia. Bobby answered the Lord’s call home to his eternal resting place on Friday, July 24, 2020. Bobby was a resident of Abbeville for over 20 plus years. Bobby loved making people laugh and helping others. He was a gentle giant that loved to laugh and always had a smile on his face. He never met a stranger and was selfless and humble in lending a hand to anyone in need.   
He is survived by his loving wife, Grace Scott of Abbeville; three children, Shelly Charles Doucette, Charlander Briggs and Sharell Charles, all of Abbeville; thirteen grandchildren; three brothers, Keith Scott (Kerrie) of Richmond, VA, Herman Rickey Scott (Sandra) of Whitestone, VA, and Beverly Rennie Scott of Remo, VA; one sister. Dinah Lee “Dee” (Wayne) Hooper of Remo, VA; aunts, Mary Irene Scott Dawson (Walter) of Kilmarnock, VA, Estelle Scott of Kilmarnock, VA, Joanna Taylor of Callao, VA, Connie Scott of Baltimore, MD, and Pauline Scott Landry of Lafayette, LA; three uncles,  Robert Lee (Connie) Scott of Baltimore, MD, Loren E. Scott of Abbeville, LA, and William A. (Joanna) Taylor of Callao, VA; and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
He is preceded in death by his paternal grandfathers, Doctor Loren Scott and Clarence Taylor; maternal grandparents, Grace Taylor and Mary Lizzy Scott; one grandchild; and numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., Abbeville on Saturday, August 8, 2020, from 9:00 AM until time of services.  
 The family would like to extend a special thanks to the staff at Abbeville General Hospital and first responders.
“In order to help keep the community safe we will honor the July 13, 2020 Louisiana Mandates. All families and their guests are required to wear a face covering while at the funeral home. Thank you for your understanding during this unprecedented time.”
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

The Vermilion Parish School Board will decide if they want to interview or not interview the three candidates who applied for the open superintendent position.
The meeting, tonight, begins at 6 o’clock in the Charles Campbell Annex Building at Central Office.
One of the first things on the agenda is to decide to interview the three candidates or not interview. If they vote not to interview the candidates, they can move forward and vote on naming a new superintendent if it is on the agenda.
The application process was closed last week, and only three applied for the job. All three also work in the Vermilion Parish School System.
School Board Kibbie Pillette said there had been a rumor floating around that the school board had already made up its mind about interviewing or not interviewing.
“No decision has been made,” said Pillette. “That will be the first thing on the agenda. We will decide at the meeting.”
In the past, Vermilion Parish school boards had always interviewed the candidates.
The Abbeville Meridional submitted the question, “Would you like to interview the candidates for the superintendent position?” to all eight school board members.
Three school board members responded by saying yes.
“Yes, all candidates should be interviewed in public so that anyone that is interested can reach out to school board members with their questions and concerns about each candidate,” said School Board member Chris Gautreaux. “Washington politics have made it’s way to Vermilion Parish. I don’t want to control anyone. I just want what is right to be done for the parish kids and the employees of this parish.”
School Board member Jason Roy said, “It is our duty to do due diligence in regards to such an important decision. This appointment will set the morale of our entire system; a morale that in my opinion is at an embarrassing low level in relation to our system’s high ranking. Now more than ever, we need a ‘real leader’, someone who can help mend the tethered fabric of our system. We need to conduct full blown interviews as we have real questions that must be answered.”
School Board member Kristy Hebert said, “Of course I want to interview the candidates.”

Who are the applicants?

The applicants are Brad Prudhomme, Tommy Byler and Paul Hebert.
Prudhomme is the interim superintendent today for the parish and has been working in the parish school system for 37 years.
He has taught at Erath Middle, J.H. Williams Middle School and Henry High.
In 2004, he was the assistant principal at J.H. Williams Middle School.
From 2007 to 2020, he was the supervisor of Child Welfare and Attendance for the school district.
This past January, he was named as the interim superintendent.
Byler is the principal at North Vermilion High School where he has been since 2015.
In 2018, he was named the Louisiana High School Principal of the Year.
Prior to 2015, he was the assistant principal at NVHS for a year. He has 28 years in education, 22 of that as a teacher. He spent 16 of those 22 years at Erath High School.
Hebert is the assistant superintendent in the parish. He has held that position since 2013.
He has 18 years in administration and 10 years as a teacher.
He was the principal at Kaplan Elementary and Eaton Park Elementary before being named as the assistant superintendent under former superintendent Jerome Puyau.
All three are expected to be at tonight’s school board meeting.