In the old days (and yes I am old enough to know about them…) Mark never went on assignment without a camera- I mean, how are you going to entice readers with mere words?  No matter how eloquently you might describe a world-record-breaking ant hill, a picture is going to bring it all home…  It suddenly occurred to to me that Mark has been (I think) camera-less in all the Allen inspired stories…

But sure as shootin’, this is the mother of all ant hills…  compared to what one typically sees in Nature…

So Maybe these aren’t your garden-variety Red Imported Fire Ants…  Maybe they are a new strain, one that will threaten the world if they ever got off the island…  OK, I know… I’m just trying to manufacture a little tension here.