Friday, July 3, 2009

When the Garfield County, Okla., sheriff's office started getting calls about millions of ants crossing an intersection, deputy Trot Bush thought it was a joke.

But he says when he arrived on Monday, there were so many insects that it appeared as if the ground was moving and the tiny critters had created a slick, hazardous area on the pavement stretching a quarter-mile.

Eventually authorities learned the bugs weren't ants, but mites. They'd apparently crossed the road that day after having dinner in a field of canola plants that had just been harvested.

Bush says the slick spot was created by the mites feasting on the plants, which are used to produce canola oil.