Ants threaten plover habitat

Add ants to the list of Siesta Key predators that threaten snowy plovers during nesting season.

“Apparently they’re perfectly capable of eating through eggs and killing the young babies as they hatch,” Patterson said during the meeting.

But, conservation easements on parcels along Beach Road, where the threatened shorebirds regularly nest, restrict the use of pesticides.

Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson yesterday asked county staff to contact Siesta Key Association members Bob Luckner and Allan Worms, who reported the problem, about possibly allowing the use of organic ant killer to rid the dunes of the insects.

The pair told Patterson they would do the legwork of asking property owners for permission to use environmentally friendly pesticides.