Ant Farm

One of the most interesting gifts Sweet Pea received for her birthday was an ant farm. We sent away for the ants, put them (very carefully!) in the container of green gel, and watched. And waited. It didn't take very long for the ants to start tunneling around. By the time we came downstairs the next morning, they'd made huge progress all the way down to the bottom.

The nicest part of this ant farm is the green gel. Not only is it easier to see the ant tunnels, but it doubles as food for them. So I don't have to open up the case to feed them.

They're harvester ants, which are apparently the best tunnelers. But they're much bigger than the standard ants we see outside, and they have easily visible pincers on their heads. My research on harvester ants warned me that they have a pretty ferocious bite, so I was more than a little nervous dumping 50 of them into the farm without setting any loose (pro tip: stick the vial of ants in the fridge for 30 seconds to get them drowsy, but be advised they wake up quickly!). And once they were safely in the case, I used packing tape to seal the top. Mommy was not foolin' around with giant biting ants.

We're about a month into it now, and most of the ants are dead (piled onto a giant "trash heap" by the survivors) but the remaining ants are still active and tunneling like crazy. They'll live a little longer, but will eventually die without a queen to replenish their population. But in the meantime, we're enjoying watching their efforts. These things never. stop. working.