This Week in Nature...

We will be talking about the twenty three or so ant colonies living in my front yard. Every day I meet and greet with these little dudes while trying to keep two curious chihuahuas from getting into trouble.

Course' we have some ant poison on the coffee table waiting to be spread about the yard, but this reporter has been sick all week... and in no mood to do anything but hurry along the business of her companions.

What makes these dudes so interesting is the shape of their homes. They create a crater like bed around a central tunnel. It's hard to see from this picture, but the sides actually fold over like an ocean wave. After a storm, it really is something to see... as several tall precarious structures dot the yard.


Each bed surrounds a wide central tunnel. During the day there isn't much activity, but when rush hour rolls around, you can see tons of ants entering and exiting.


They have tiny, pale, red brown bodies and seem to favor the shamrock leaves as their burden of choice. There are tons of ant species but these dudes seem new to our neighborhood. Most of our ants in past years come in three varieties; The fire ants which are killed off quickly, early in the season; The little brown ants that build their homes in cracks, instead of beds, and generally go unnoticed; And the little black ants that build massive beds, about one every seven houses apart.

I really do need to get that poison out. Kill em' off. I've almost grown attached, though. But no, I'll not be holding any funerals. :P

Currently: Hacking and coughing.