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JESUSWILLRETURN

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8 (KJV) CARPENTER ANTS are large ants that excavate wood to build nests, but they don't eat it, instead feeding on sweets and proteins like honeydew, dead insects, and meat. They are identified by their large size (up to 1/2 inch), black or red/black color, and a smooth, evenly rounded thorax with a single node (waist segment). While they can bite and spray formic acid, they are primarily a structural pest, not a health threat, and are often mistaken for termites due to their wood-nesting habits and winged swarmers. Identification Size: Workers range from 1/4 to 1/2 inch; queens and males are larger. Color: Often black, but can be red and black, or other colors depending on the species. Body: Smooth, evenly rounded thorax (when viewed from the side) and a single node (waist). Distinguishing from termites: Ants have elbowed antennae and a pinched waist; termites have straight antennae and a broad waist. Behavior and Habitat Nesting: They tunnel into wood (dead or living) to create nests, leaving behind sawdust-like frass. Diet: Omnivores that eat honeydew, sweets, and proteins; they forage at night. Colonies: Can be large, with different sizes of workers (minor, intermediate, major). Swarming: Winged reproductives swarm in spring/summer to start new colonies, often mistaken for termites. Dangers Structural Damage: The main concern is the damage they cause by hollowing out wood for nests, which can compromise structures over time. Bites: They can bite and spray formic acid, causing a burning sensation, but are not aggressive and avoid humans. More in comments: 👇🏻👇🏻

justme

In less than 24 hours, a winter storm swept across the United States and cut power to over one million people. The storm system — now designated Winter Storm Fern — dropped snow, sleet, and freezing rain from Texas to Maine. Some of the most severe impacts occurred in the South, where ice accumulation caused tree limbs to snap and power lines to fall. At its peak, Tennessee alone reported over 330,000 outages. Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were each dealing with more than 90,000 customers in the dark. The physics of ice storms is simple and unforgiving. When freezing rain lands on trees and wires, it coats them in a layer of ice. One-quarter inch of ice adds about 500 pounds of weight per span of power line. As that weight builds, infrastructure begins to fail — especially in areas where trees haven't evolved to withstand such loads. But it wasn’t just the South. As the system pushed northeast, snowfall rates reached up to 2 inches per hour in some cities. Airports across the region began canceling flights by the thousands. Road conditions rapidly deteriorated under a mix of heavy snow and ice, limiting emergency responses and slowing utility repairs. This kind of cascading disruption — snow, ice, outages, grounded flights, and blocked roads — is typical of large, slow-moving winter storms that span multiple climate zones. And while they’re not new, their impacts are becoming more visible in a country with aging infrastructure and increasingly interconnected systems.