JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Beach has a new set of tenants.
"It's very annoying," Dawn Williams said.
They're small, they're black and they swarm you before you know it.
"They're just like everywhere and it freaks me out," Taylor Williams said.
We're talking about crazy ants...named after their erratic crawling pattern. They starting popping up on and around the sand a week or so ago.
"We've been here the last couple of weeks and we noticed the ants and it seems to be worse today," Dawn continued.
We met up with Justin Burlingame and his company Home Team Pest Defense this afternoon to get a closer look. Within seconds, they crawled up on beach gear, sidewalks....even people's feet.
"Right now with the amount of rain that we've had, it's been flushing them out," Burlingame said.
On a hot, summer day, all anyone wants to do is get from their car to the ocean. The problem is, the pesky little creatures are in the way. We found them colonized around each walkway on the beach.
The question everyone's asking... what's causing them to show up on the beach. According to Burlingame, the ants are in search of food. The weather is bringing them on to the sand - which is unusual. Trash cans and left behind crumbs also has something to do with it.
The good news is, they aren't harmful to you and me. They're just a nuisance.
"They will kind of get on you and try to nibble down, but it's not a stinging insect...so nothing in that terms to be alarmed about," Burlingame said.
As the weather dries out, the ants will most likely head elsewhere in search of food.
