DRUNK ANTS......many remarkable discoveries are accidental---penicillin being one of teh most remarkable-- blackberry brandy may b one of those..
with spring springing, the ants HAVE moveD in -- different sizes and colors-- they are very well organized-- and ... i am told talk to each other with a pattern of whiskers-- i do know they sometimes walk in a very straight row... which this morning was along teh very edge of my bureau--- i could see every one... because my bureau is covered with that white polywhatever that is made for milk rooms at dairy farms and car wash places..---we use it all over here- like doggie doors and kennel walls-and my bureau...
i have studied ants before-- when we built the house, a 4 inch column of ants came out of teh flat field across the driveway and up th ehill into what was to be our cellar- i was a beginner then... i dropped a shovel full of dirt-- IT DID NOT deterred them-- dug a hole... built a little "a-frame" -- they went up and over... i went as far as kerosene - it burned out and they kept coming. 4 inch wide column... i went baCK TO THE SOURCE-- A TINY HOLE IN THE FIELD-- AND COVERED IT.. THAT ONLY DETERRED THEM FOR A FEW MINUTES AND TEHY CAME OUT SOMEWHERE ELSE... -- THEY WERE MEDIUM SIZE ANTS
THESE ON MY BUREAU WERE TINY-- AND SINGLE FILE- WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LIKE ANT KILLER ON TEH PROPERTY--- THE ONLY LIQUID WITHIN MY REACH WAS..... BLACKBERRY BRANDY-- OF WHICH I AM VERY FOND... NOT TO EXCESS OF COURSE.... A SPOONFULL IN THEIR PATH DETERRED THEM BETTER THAN THE KEROSENE.. ASW I WATCHED THESE ANTS, A FEW TURNED AROUND AND WENT BACKWARDS-- SO I LET THEM-- HOPEFULLY THEY WOULD TELL THE REST OF THEM TO GO ELSEWHERE..
AS I PUT ON MY SOX... I NOTICED... I HAVE NO ANTS ON MY BUREAU.
AT LEAST FOR TEH MOMENT... did i discover something??? i dunno
BUGS ARE GOING TO TAKE OVER TEH WORLD---TEHRE ARE MANY MORE DEATHS DUE TO BUGS THAN WARS.. ( I JUST MADE THAT UP, BUT I BET IT IS TRUE) -
OTHER ANT BITS....
SOMEWHERE I READ--- TEH DNA OF ANTS IN SPAIN MATCHED THE DNA OF ANTS IN THE BACK REGIONS OF RUSSIA...
I DO KNOW AROUND HERE THERE ARE MASSIVE SOURCES-- ONE IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GENERATOR TO THE BARN...
WE LOOSE TREES CONSTANTLY--- BIG TREES -- WHICH ARE HOLLOW-- AND FULL OF ANTS-- TEH EMERGENCY TREE CUTTING HAD TO BE THE ONE CLOSEST TO THE GArage 30" diameter 100 feet tall... mamouth pine tree-- totaly hollow and finally dead---
TEH NEXT IS THE 12 " one AT THE TOP OF THE POND--- FOR 2 YEARS NOW I HAVE WATCHED THE COLLECTION OF SAWDUST AT THE BASE OF THAT TREE.
i suppose that makes us a 12 acre "ant farm"
****
it is a constant fight against the wilderness.... that big tree next to the smokers hut- had a rat hole at the bottom... with great difficulty i got a piece of 4" rubber hose and attached it to the exhaust on my car and shoved the other end in the hole. with great anticipation ... i sat.. then i heard a chattering overhead-- looking up there was smoke and rats coming out of a hole 30 feet up that tree..
add to that -- the squirrels and chipmonks that store their nuts in guest room beds.... i give up