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Tue, Feb 9
After Xmas when everything was on super-sale, I picked up a little Uncle Milton's Ant Farm for $9.99, thinking it would be a fun project for my grandson to share with me. My kids had a Giant Ant Farm when they were young and the whole family loved it. We would gather around the kitchen table to watch the busy little buggers several times a day.
As soon as I got my 6" x 9" ant farm home, I sent away for the ants. That was 6 weeks ago or more. I got the "farm" ready by pouring the sand into it. But we still had no ants. I checked the mailbox everyday for weeks, as close to delivery time as possible so the live animals wouldn't freeze to death by sitting in the cold mailbox too long. As it happened, though, they arrived on a moderate day, about 32 degrees.
The ants arrived in a tiny little plastic tube with an instruction card that said READ THIS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO RELEASE ANTS. It told me to place the ants in the refrigerator for 15 minutes so they could go a little dormant to make the transfer into their new home safer and easier. It also warned "Do not touch the ants. They bite and sting!"
I thought the 32 degrees in the mailbox had surely been cold enough to do the job and so decided to skip the refrigerator process. I was sorry Jared wasn't here, but the poor creatures had been in that tiny tube (smaller than a blood-draw vial) for a long trip and needed to get out. So I opened the tube and started shaking them into the ant farm. Have you ever had an ant farm? The narrow slit between the two plastic sides of the thing is about the same width as a puny ant body. Getting them in there was not easy. In fact, every single one of those ants got loose all over my kitchen table. All of a sudden I was in danger of getting stung or losing them between the cracks of the table leaves or down onto the floor. It was a bonafide ant rodeo as I struggled to round up those ants! Our German Shepherd was sitting beside the table watching all of this going on, her head cocking from side to side in wonder. Eventually, I managed to recapture 11 ants. Three were dead on arrival, but I do think I got the rest of them. I put the dead ones in the farm too, because from past experience I know they have their own customs for dealing with that sort of thing.
Whew! So once they were in, I thought, "Where's the food?" None was included in the ant farm or with the ants. What do red ants eat? I went to Uncle Milton's website and found nothing there except one poor site where I could order ant food along with more ants and an encyclopedia, etc. etc. I didn't want all that. So I put a cooked kernel of rice in and hoped that was a good choice.
Doug came home and decided the little guys needed more food. He put a chunk of sourdough bread in the ant farm, smooshing it down with a table knife. I was sure that the fermentation would kill them and wanted him to take it back out. In doing so, he smashed an ant to death. I had had two glasses of wine by that time and got really upset. Doug just looked at me and said matter-of-factly "Deb, that's not the first ant I ever killed, and it won't be the last." That was the wrong thing to say! These were not just "ants" by now, don't you know. These were pets. We had a tearful exchange (tears on my part, not Doug's) and agreed to leave the ants alone for the rest of the evening.
Thankfully, the next morning they were all doing well. They are working all the time, some on swing shift and some on graveyard, digging tunnels and building mounds. Sometimes one will take a little nap, and some fighting breaks out from time to time. They bathe themselves "kitty cat" style several times a day, have buried their dismembered dead in Doug's sourdough bread (As I said, they have their own customs. I try not to judge), and seem to be very happy in their new home on my kitchen table. Yes, the ant farm is our centerpiece and conversation piece at dinner. :-) Our grandson hasn't been over to see the ant farm yet, but is anxious to do so.
And that's Debbie's Ant Farm report. You are now up to date. :-D
Fri, Feb 13
After Xmas when everything was on super-sale, I picked up a little Uncle Milton's Ant Farm for $9.99, thinking it would be a fun project for my grandson to share with me. My kids had a Giant Ant Farm when they were young and the whole family loved it. We would gather around the kitchen table to watch the busy little buggers several times a day.
As soon as I got my 6" x 9" ant farm home, I sent away for the ants. That was 6 weeks ago or more. I got the "farm" ready by pouring the sand into it. But we still had no ants. I checked the mailbox everyday for weeks, as close to delivery time as possible so the live animals wouldn't freeze to death by sitting in the cold mailbox too long. As it happened, though, they arrived on a moderate day, about 32 degrees.
The ants arrived in a tiny little plastic tube with an instruction card that said READ THIS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO RELEASE ANTS. It told me to place the ants in the refrigerator for 15 minutes so they could go a little dormant to make the transfer into their new home safer and easier. It also warned "Do not touch the ants. They bite and sting!"
I thought the 32 degrees in the mailbox had surely been cold enough to do the job and so decided to skip the refrigerator process. I was sorry Jared wasn't here, but the poor creatures had been in that tiny tube (smaller than a blood-draw vial) for a long trip and needed to get out. So I opened the tube and started shaking them into the ant farm. Have you ever had an ant farm? The narrow slit between the two plastic sides of the thing is about the same width as a puny ant body. Getting them in there was not easy. In fact, every single one of those ants got loose all over my kitchen table. All of a sudden I was in danger of getting stung or losing them between the cracks of the table leaves or down onto the floor. It was a bonafide ant rodeo as I struggled to round up those ants! Our German Shepherd was sitting beside the table watching all of this going on, her head cocking from side to side in wonder. Eventually, I managed to recapture 11 ants. Three were dead on arrival, but I do think I got the rest of them. I put the dead ones in the farm too, because from past experience I know they have their own customs for dealing with that sort of thing.
Whew! So once they were in, I thought, "Where's the food?" None was included in the ant farm or with the ants. What do red ants eat? I went to Uncle Milton's website and found nothing there except one poor site where I could order ant food along with more ants and an encyclopedia, etc. etc. I didn't want all that. So I put a cooked kernel of rice in and hoped that was a good choice.
Doug came home and decided the little guys needed more food. He put a chunk of sourdough bread in the ant farm, smooshing it down with a table knife. I was sure that the fermentation would kill them and wanted him to take it back out. In doing so, he smashed an ant to death. I had had two glasses of wine by that time and got really upset. Doug just looked at me and said matter-of-factly "Deb, that's not the first ant I ever killed, and it won't be the last." That was the wrong thing to say! These were not just "ants" by now, don't you know. These were pets. We had a tearful exchange (tears on my part, not Doug's) and agreed to leave the ants alone for the rest of the evening.
Thankfully, the next morning they were all doing well. They are working all the time, some on swing shift and some on graveyard, digging tunnels and building mounds. Sometimes one will take a little nap, and some fighting breaks out from time to time. They bathe themselves "kitty cat" style several times a day, have buried their dismembered dead in Doug's sourdough bread (As I said, they have their own customs. I try not to judge), and seem to be very happy in their new home on my kitchen table. Yes, the ant farm is our centerpiece and conversation piece at dinner. :-) Our grandson hasn't been over to see the ant farm yet, but is anxious to do so.
And that's Debbie's Ant Farm report. You are now up to date. :-D
Fri, Feb 13
I put a tiny bit of orange in the ant farm. They are all over that! About five of the workforce found it and are clinging to it like life, gorging for all they are worth. The two men in the lowest underground don't know about it yet. I have a feeling my little buddies were sorely in need in nourishment.
Fri, Mar 20
It has been interesting to watch and learn from my ants.
At this point, only two or three are still alive. And they are moving very slowly. My grandson wanted a job the other day. I set him to watching the ant farm to try and detect any survivors. He found four. I hadn't seen activity in several days so was glad to hear we still had life in there.
They have dug so many tunnels, quite an elaborate system, actually, that there is more sand on the top half of the farm, in the "barnyard," than there is below ground level. The cemetery is above ground. Their Tower of Babel is apparently the designated tomb.
It is intriguing to me that as the work gets closer to being finished (where else can they dig a tunnel?) they are dying off, in spite of the wonderful sunshine they receive, the delicious cookie crumbs, and regular droplets of water I give them. Like old men whose work is done, they just give up. They see no sense in idle retirement. I say old "men" because, of course, they are all males. This is quite appropriate to my way of thinking. All the heavy work is done by the men folk.
Also appropriate, in my humble opinion, every newborn female is rightly a potential "Queen." Of course, girls being girls, there is a great deal of jealousy genetically inherent, and these nasty sisters kill one another off until there is only one left. But oh, la! what a life. No big rocks to move, no dead bodies to haul away, no food to scavenge. They lay abed all day long, eating, drinking, having sex. And when they have babies, somebody else takes care of them. And the best part? It's perfectly normal, in fact desirable, to be fat.
Unfortunately, queens are not included in the vial of ants that are sent out for the ant farms. It is illegal. I imagine if I had a queen my hard-working males would live quite a bit longer and with a bit more enthusiasm. Don't you?
My next update will no doubt be the obituary, but I wanted to keep your abreast of the latest news.
Thu, Apr 9
Fri, Mar 20
It has been interesting to watch and learn from my ants.
At this point, only two or three are still alive. And they are moving very slowly. My grandson wanted a job the other day. I set him to watching the ant farm to try and detect any survivors. He found four. I hadn't seen activity in several days so was glad to hear we still had life in there.
They have dug so many tunnels, quite an elaborate system, actually, that there is more sand on the top half of the farm, in the "barnyard," than there is below ground level. The cemetery is above ground. Their Tower of Babel is apparently the designated tomb.
It is intriguing to me that as the work gets closer to being finished (where else can they dig a tunnel?) they are dying off, in spite of the wonderful sunshine they receive, the delicious cookie crumbs, and regular droplets of water I give them. Like old men whose work is done, they just give up. They see no sense in idle retirement. I say old "men" because, of course, they are all males. This is quite appropriate to my way of thinking. All the heavy work is done by the men folk.
Also appropriate, in my humble opinion, every newborn female is rightly a potential "Queen." Of course, girls being girls, there is a great deal of jealousy genetically inherent, and these nasty sisters kill one another off until there is only one left. But oh, la! what a life. No big rocks to move, no dead bodies to haul away, no food to scavenge. They lay abed all day long, eating, drinking, having sex. And when they have babies, somebody else takes care of them. And the best part? It's perfectly normal, in fact desirable, to be fat.
Unfortunately, queens are not included in the vial of ants that are sent out for the ant farms. It is illegal. I imagine if I had a queen my hard-working males would live quite a bit longer and with a bit more enthusiasm. Don't you?
My next update will no doubt be the obituary, but I wanted to keep your abreast of the latest news.
Thu, Apr 9
Obituary:
I am sorry to report that all the ants have died. Mo and Curly were the last. The two of them survived for over two weeks by themselves. They moved so slowly of late that I had to actually sit and watch for several minutes to detect any movement in the Ant Farm. During their last days I gave them Snickerdoodle crumbs, Ruby Red Grapefruit morsels, and freshwater. I think they died with full tummies.
I would like to tell you that they died wrapped in each others many arms and legs, but that is not the way of ants. Although I wasn't actually present to witness their deaths, it appears that either Mo or Curly died first and was lovingly dismembered and buried by his friend, a last tribute performed according to age-old ant ways. Whomever was the survivor, Mo or Curly, he died alone in one of the tunnels. His body lies there intact. What a brave little soldier he was!
These valiant and hard working creatures managed in their short time here to dig ten tunnels below ground, and a couple above as well. They took turns napping, working, bathing and eating. They were most excellent ant farm citizens and I shall miss them.
I am sorry to report that all the ants have died. Mo and Curly were the last. The two of them survived for over two weeks by themselves. They moved so slowly of late that I had to actually sit and watch for several minutes to detect any movement in the Ant Farm. During their last days I gave them Snickerdoodle crumbs, Ruby Red Grapefruit morsels, and freshwater. I think they died with full tummies.
I would like to tell you that they died wrapped in each others many arms and legs, but that is not the way of ants. Although I wasn't actually present to witness their deaths, it appears that either Mo or Curly died first and was lovingly dismembered and buried by his friend, a last tribute performed according to age-old ant ways. Whomever was the survivor, Mo or Curly, he died alone in one of the tunnels. His body lies there intact. What a brave little soldier he was!
These valiant and hard working creatures managed in their short time here to dig ten tunnels below ground, and a couple above as well. They took turns napping, working, bathing and eating. They were most excellent ant farm citizens and I shall miss them.
