I Found the Ants. I Lost My Nerve.

I was supposed to be excited. First record of the little fire ant in the Canary Islands—my name on the paper, a warning issued, a threat contained. But all I felt was the weight of another problem we can’t fix. We mapped the perimeter of a golf course, knees in the dirt, counting bodies that didn’t belong. I kept thinking about how easy it is for something small to take over—how a few ants, or a single mistake, can unravel everything you thought was stable. Everyone talks about vigilance, about being proactive. But I’m tired. The ants keep coming. The funding doesn’t. Sometimes I wonder if we’re just documenting the collapse, one field note at a time. #ScienceFatigue #FieldworkTruths #EcosystemAnxiety #Science