Wanderer

Photo #1-3: Just look and compare to previous photos. You may notice some condensation around the surfaces of the habitat. That's because they had just been in the refrigerator so I could remove 3 dead ants. It was very warm outside. Condensation. 

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It seems the ants have become accustomed to their new environment, and every time I look in on them, they are very busy working in the tunnels, either widening them or keeping them clean.

I had a close call this morning when I went to remove three dead ants. I used to think that when you disturb ants, they all run away, into their ant hills, ant holes, under cover of leaves, every which way in a frantic panic to get away from the disturbance. However, these little critters are not shy. It seems they know when the lid is about to come off. Maybe they can feel me prying open the lid with the knife edge. Instead of running for the tunnels for protection and safety, they run to the surface to make their escape. After I lift one edge of the lid a mere centimeter, I decide it won’t work. Two ants are snug against the top edge just waiting for their opportunity. I imagine Papillon and Louis (Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman) standing on the rocky cliffs of Devil’s Island, staring out to sea as they contemplate their escape. Except my two are more like Thelma and Louise running away from home. That makes me the bad guy in this scenario because I‘d be trying to catch them if they manage to squeeze through.

I decide to chill them first. There are too many escapee hopefuls clinging to the upper edges of the habitat. They learn fast. I set the container in the refrigerator, then leave for a few minutes, which actually stretches into 15 minutes because I forget they are in there. As soon as I realize my error, I run quickly through the living room, my husband glancing oddly at me, wondering of my urgent concern in the kitchen. He might have thought I had forgotten the rhubarb pie in the oven by the way I flew past him, but that was yesterday, and I didn’t forget that. I say one word, “Ants,” and he understands.

I quickly carry the now cooled container outside before the ants thaw, lift the lid, then tweeze out the bodies. I manage to snap the lid back on just as one ant scurries to the top, but I am too fast for her. Steve asks me how do I know which ones are dead and which ones are just really chilled. I tell him I remember where the bodies are lying. Good thing I had looked before I put them in the refrigerator, I think. A cold ant looks very much like a dead ant. I learned that the first day I had them.

So all is well in this queenless colony. Still, I wonder, why do they keep tunneling when they seem to have plenty of tunnels already? There are enough tunnels for each ant to occupy one by herself. Which remnds me, where are the rooms? I thought there would be little ant rooms, places to store things. Then I remember, what do they have to store anymore? No eggs, no ant larvae, no queen. No wonder. So they continue their endless tunneling. I wonder, also, when will they stop tunneling? Since they are not expected to live very long, they will probably die before they run out of gel to tunnel through.

As we wait for Discovery to return from its ISS mission, my thoughts again return to the 2002-2003 ants-in-space experiment. I have found some additional websites that might be of interest to some of you.