The Fire Ant Wars [electronic resource] : Nature, Science, and Public Policy in Twentieth-Century America
Buhs, Joshua Blu.
Chicago, Ill. ; London : University of Chicago Press,
c2004.
Sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, a coterie of fire ants came ashore from South American ships docked in Mobile, Alabama. Fanning out across the region, the fire ants invaded the South, damaging crops, harassing game animals, and hindering harvesting methods. Responding to a collective call from southerners to eliminate these invasive pests, the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed a campaign that not only failed to eradicate the fire ants but left a wake of dead wildlife, sickened cattle, and public protest.With political intrigue, environmental tragedy, and such figure
Description based upon print version of record.
Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One: From South America to the American South, 1900-1950; Chapter Two: Grins a Prohibitive Fracture, 1945-1957; Chapter Three: Fire Ants, from Savage to Invincible, 1957-1972; Chapter Four: The Fire Ant Wars, 1958-1983; Chapter Five: The Practice of Nature, 1978-2000; References; Index
Sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, a coterie of fire ants came ashore from South American ships docked in Mobile, Alabama. Fanning out across the region, the fire ants invaded the South, damaging crops, harassing game animals, and hindering harvesting methods. Responding to a collective call from southerners to eliminate these invasive pests, the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed a campaign that not only failed to eradicate the fire ants but left a wake of dead wildlife, sickened cattle, and public protest.With political intrigue, environmental tragedy, and such figure
Description based on print version record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Fire ants -- Control -- Environmental aspects -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Fire ants - Control - Environmental aspects - Southern States - History - 20th century.
Fire ants -- Control -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Fire ants - Control - Southern States - History - 20th century.
Insecticides -- Environmental aspects -- Southern States -- History -- 20th century.
Insecticides - Environmental aspects - Southern States - History - 20th century.
Fire ants
Fire ants
Insecticides
Plant Sciences
Agriculture
Earth & Environmental Sciences