Ants don't just ruin picnics. They hang out at dog parks, too.

Ants are known to ruin picnics but they can ruin a lot of other fun activities, too. Last evening, I took Ben and Maggie to the dog park. Maggie and I were walking the 1/4 mile circumference of the dog park while Ben was socializing.

Ben became particularly chatty with two cute poodle. The three were really enjoying each other's company since most of the other dogs in the park were over-sized. Suddenly, Ben came running over to me on three legs. I thought maybe he'd stepped on a sticky weed. So, I picked Ben up to remove the sticker from his foot.

Ben's foot was very swollen and so was his leg. It had happened very quickly. Fortunately, the poodles' mom had seen it all and told me that Ben has stepped on an ant hill. Poor Ben. I couldn't even touch his foot w/o him howling.

Since I knew the ants had attacked Ben's paw, I knew what was causing the swelling. We needed Benadryl immediately. So, I called Jim and told him to get to the dog park with Benadryl ASAP. I had barely managed to get Ben and Maggie out of the dog park when I saw Jim driving his car down the bike path towards us!

Fortunately, Ben's face didn't swell and he didn't have breathing problems. Got him home and washed his foot and leg. Gave him some baby aspirin, too. Maggie and Jim sat with Ben all evening long. Guido paced around the house because he knew Ben was ailing. Suzie just growled. She was missing her evening nap with all the commotion.

Ben's doing fine this morning.

The fire ants ruined our fun. I'm sure someone at the human park across the street was having a picnic. Ants need to know that it is their job to ruin picnics. They shouldn't hang out at dog parks. And...you can quote me on that!