On ants

Vade ad formicum! Not being a scientist who studies ants, I can’t tell you a lot of the little creatures except that ants seem to live just about everywhere–red, black, grease, fire, carpenter. They form a social colony not unlike a small army, working tirelessly from sun up to sun down. Obviously the writer of Proverbs thought well of their work ethic. In Texas we have the wonderful fire ant, a devil of a creature that stings with a fiery bite that will leave you with tears in your eyes. My life in Minnesota was always haunted by small red ants and large black ones. We always knew that spring had sprung when little ant hills began to appear again between the stone flaggings in the walkway out to the street. Winter was a time for hibernation and sleep. I was always amazed at the social structure of an ant hill–workers, soldiers, nursery attendants–each going about their work in order to advance the survival of the colony. I always felt that stepping on an ant was a really low thing to do since they were so harmless. On the other hand, I have no qualms about poisoning an entire colony of fire ants–no mercy from me. The fire ant does not seem to have any redeeming qualities. Nevertheless, having ants inside your house is not a picnic, even if the ants want to make it one. Intelligent little creatures, the various kinds which store grain for food know that they must eat the heart of the seed lest it germinate while in storage and destroy the colony. How do they learn that stuff?

On ants

Vade ad formicum! Not being a scientist who studies ants, I can’t tell you a lot of the little creatures except that ants seem to live just about everywhere–red, black, grease, fire, carpenter. They form a social colony not unlike a small army, working tirelessly from sun up to sun down. Obviously the writer of Proverbs thought well of their work ethic. In Texas we have the wonderful fire ant, a devil of a creature that stings with a fiery bite that will leave you with tears in your eyes. My life in Minnesota was always haunted by small red ants and large black ones. We always knew that spring had sprung when little ant hills began to appear again between the stone flaggings in the walkway out to the street. Winter was a time for hibernation and sleep. I was always amazed at the social structure of an ant hill–workers, soldiers, nursery attendants–each going about their work in order to advance the survival of the colony. I always felt that stepping on an ant was a really low thing to do since they were so harmless. On the other hand, I have no qualms about poisoning an entire colony of fire ants–no mercy from me. The fire ant does not seem to have any redeeming qualities. Nevertheless, having ants inside your house is not a picnic, even if the ants want to make it one. Intelligent little creatures, the various kinds which store grain for food know that they must eat the heart of the seed lest it germinate while in storage and destroy the colony. How do they learn that stuff?