Over here in my part of California, I am happy to say that the ants are tiny and harmless. They never exceed 2/10ths of an inch long. I went to Pennsylvania once and was startled at the size of the ants there.
@WannaBeHillBilly at least it’s not as bad as when you got your STD
I have been out in the woods several times and nobody warned me! Maybe poison ivy poses no danger in the cold season (?) - when i was dragged out of my cozy warm office to visit that frozen waterfall in Rochester NY, just as an example. - ATV on the frozen lake in Alberta, throwing buckets of boiling hot water into the freezing air of Illinois, making smores over a fire in Oklahoma… All done during the cold season.You must not have taken a walk out in nature with any Americans, if you didn't know the details! That's basically the first thing on people's minds the moment they plant their foot off the beaten (paved) path. The gruesome and fearsome details were my husband's way of trying to convince me to just stay on the couch where I'll be safeSo I was prepared. It still got me anyway... many times... I still can't reliably identify it to save myself. I either think everything is poison ivy, or nothing is.
It has no leaves in the cold season, so less danger. Also, you're covered up quite well when it's cold. Can't accidentally hug it with your bare arms and sweat it down to your... body, right?
I have never paid attention to the ants when i visited California (extended bay area and Silicon valley, L.A. and Silicone valley, San Diego), but be cautious: Fire ants have been confirmed in the counties of Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside. And they are really tiny and look harmless until you step into one of their mounds…
They are usually not worth paying any attention to, unless they get into your house (and then ant bait traps are pretty effective.)
Well, not me, but i'm not so sure about the Canadians: Temperatures of -3 to -5°C (mid 20's F) and these guys were in T-Shirts, complaining about the warmth… They could have hugged anything by accident!
(Yes, some ethanol was involved too…)
Fire ants and poison ivy are for now the two species i would extinct if i could!
