Red Fire Ant Nest Dirt

Red fire ants are used in Southern-style rootwork for enemy work, as you might expect from a curio involving this invasive species with its painful bite. Fire ants and fire ant nest dirt are used to agitate and irritate a target and are often associated with tricks to  "run somebody crazy" so they are never relaxing/settling/getting comfortable and are always agitated -- beyond movement and into mind and mood, as well.

While ants can be used in workings that aren't enemy tricks, I wouldn't use red fire ants for those, myself - I'd use a different, less aggressive/ouchy species, but YMMV.

I do not use any poisons or anything dangerous in the gathering or packaging of this ant nest curio. I gather these very carefully, with appropriate containers, in distinct phases so there is a 0% chance any of these ants are still alive when the jar comes into my house. 

Once it does, it goes into a different airtight container where it stays until I need to use it or package it up for someone's shipment, so there's even less of a chance any of them are alive at that point, usually months later. Bottom line, your glass vial full of red ant nest dirt may or may not contain any insect carcasses, but it will not contain any living ants.

The number of actual ants I scoop up compared to the dirt just depends on what's available and how established the nest is. Their bites really suck so I don't spend any longer fishing for ant bodies in the capture than I have to. I simply scoop up as much nest as I can safely and quickly and seal it up carefully.

Exact composition and weight will vary since these are natural curios and insects don't do things to spec.

The actual color of the dirt can and will vary, too. They sometimes build nests in red dirt, but they don't always. Sometimes they build them in your tomato seedlings' lovely potting soil or in the sandy earth near your chicken coop or in the rich humus heaps you were looking forward to amending your broccoli patch with. No, my garden's doing just fine this year, I'm not bitter - why? ;)

• Small Corked Bottle: You'll receive a corked glass vial similar to the ones pictured. The vials can vary slightly depending on stock/supplier, but yours will be at least 20 mls capacity (which is a little over half a fluid ounce by volume, which is the size of my condition oil bottles; the two pictured on the right are both about 20 mls).

• Small Bag: 2x3 plastic zipper bag, contains ~1 oz.