I sat under the mango tree today with a pad and pencil, planning to draw, while my husband watched a rerun of Voltes 5 dubbed in Filipino. It's a nice hot afternoon, and it seemed such a waste to spend it indoors.
I was distracted by one intrepid red ant traveling along the back of the plastic chair where I had put my feet up, and before it could reach my leg I smashed it flat with my daughter's Barbie ruler. Soon enough, another ant came aong and stumbled upon his dead friend. I assumed he freaked out. He sniffed around, felt along the dead ant's head and tail, and then he commenced to drag it by the neck, back up the chair and on to the chico tree where the chair was tied to.
I repeated the murder of the ant. As soon as I whacked one ant, another would carry it off by the neck. I've known that an ant can carry twice its own weight, but I didn't know they followed a protocol for carrying their dead.
"The neck! The neck! It's crucial! Hoist your comrade up your back, lift, and heigh-ho! Back to the nest we go!"
News must travel fast among these red ants. When quite a few lay squashed, a crowd of their colleagues came and inspected them. They tend to gather more around the half-dead ones, as if unsure of what to do with them.
"How do we carry them without injuring them further?"
"Splint for broken legs!"
"But all six legs are broken!"
I have smashed five again; there are at least 30 ants gathered round the casualties. The two really dead ones have already been carried off, always by the nape of the neck.
I prod one of the bystanders with the tip of my pencil. It reared up its bottom and bit the lead. I put the pencil in the middle of five ants who are probably arguing who will carry their maimed friend. All five, with their butts in the air, attacked the pencil. I pinned one of the ants down and flattened its tail. When I lifted the pencil, seven ants converged on the tail. Much as I want to believe that the seven are trying to apply first aid, it certainly looked like they were drinking the moisture from the smashed tail. And then the fallen ant was carried off, still struggling, by the neck.
Now there are more ants. Are they waiting for more casualties? Are the dead ants brought back to the nest as food? Do the maimed ones recover, or are they eaten? It's summer; I suppose they are gathering food stock, but I don't remember seeing in Animal Planet that they eat their own kind.
Now a whole squad of ants is marching down the tree trunk. Someone has reported to headquarters about this mysterious enemy: flat and transparent, with little pink human lettering that spells "Mattel, Inc. All rights reserved."
I've been watching the ants for over an hour. I try to smash another ant, but quick as a flash this one dodges the ruler. He climbs up and onto my hand. I try to shake it off, but it goes up my arm, up my shoulder, and takes a quick bite on the back of my neck. I slap the ant-- dead-- but my nape stings.
Sweet revenge, he must have thought. I wonder if he planned to commit suicide. I get up to find something to put on the ant bite. I think I will watch the cat next time.
I was distracted by one intrepid red ant traveling along the back of the plastic chair where I had put my feet up, and before it could reach my leg I smashed it flat with my daughter's Barbie ruler. Soon enough, another ant came aong and stumbled upon his dead friend. I assumed he freaked out. He sniffed around, felt along the dead ant's head and tail, and then he commenced to drag it by the neck, back up the chair and on to the chico tree where the chair was tied to.
I repeated the murder of the ant. As soon as I whacked one ant, another would carry it off by the neck. I've known that an ant can carry twice its own weight, but I didn't know they followed a protocol for carrying their dead.
"The neck! The neck! It's crucial! Hoist your comrade up your back, lift, and heigh-ho! Back to the nest we go!"
News must travel fast among these red ants. When quite a few lay squashed, a crowd of their colleagues came and inspected them. They tend to gather more around the half-dead ones, as if unsure of what to do with them.
"How do we carry them without injuring them further?"
"Splint for broken legs!"
"But all six legs are broken!"
I have smashed five again; there are at least 30 ants gathered round the casualties. The two really dead ones have already been carried off, always by the nape of the neck.
I prod one of the bystanders with the tip of my pencil. It reared up its bottom and bit the lead. I put the pencil in the middle of five ants who are probably arguing who will carry their maimed friend. All five, with their butts in the air, attacked the pencil. I pinned one of the ants down and flattened its tail. When I lifted the pencil, seven ants converged on the tail. Much as I want to believe that the seven are trying to apply first aid, it certainly looked like they were drinking the moisture from the smashed tail. And then the fallen ant was carried off, still struggling, by the neck.
Now there are more ants. Are they waiting for more casualties? Are the dead ants brought back to the nest as food? Do the maimed ones recover, or are they eaten? It's summer; I suppose they are gathering food stock, but I don't remember seeing in Animal Planet that they eat their own kind.
Now a whole squad of ants is marching down the tree trunk. Someone has reported to headquarters about this mysterious enemy: flat and transparent, with little pink human lettering that spells "Mattel, Inc. All rights reserved."
I've been watching the ants for over an hour. I try to smash another ant, but quick as a flash this one dodges the ruler. He climbs up and onto my hand. I try to shake it off, but it goes up my arm, up my shoulder, and takes a quick bite on the back of my neck. I slap the ant-- dead-- but my nape stings.
Sweet revenge, he must have thought. I wonder if he planned to commit suicide. I get up to find something to put on the ant bite. I think I will watch the cat next time.
1 comment:
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Plotter, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://plotter-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
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