The Ants Came Marching In!!

It was young evening. I was sitting on our granite bench in the portico. Just me, no mobile, no newspaper, no book. My eyes looking into the distance, watching the sunlight slowly fading away over the homes of neighbours. The breeze was pleasant on my face and I could hear the birds flying overhead on their way home for a well-earned night’s rest.

My eyes slowly moved back home to my simple garden, when I caught sight of something different, it appeared to be a cocoon made of leaves. It aroused my curiosity, but I was too comfortable and perhaps lazy to get up to investigate.

The next morning, as is my wont, I opened the front door to welcome and thank God for a new day, when my eyes fell on the cocoon. I went up to it and pulled down the tender branch and found big red ants walking in and out and all around the cocoon. It was a ‘Red Ant Nest’. (I googled it and found out that it was a ‘weaver ant nest’, so called as they join large leaves together.)

Filled with childlike excitement, I called hubby to have a look, took a few pictures and decided to share the pictures selectively on WhatsApp.

Here is the picture that I posted with the question, ‘guess, what this is?’.

This opened up an interesting conversation with many, so much so, that I thought it was worthy of a blog. Rest assured; this is not going to be a blog on ants. Ants will be mentioned in passing with some ‘ant trivia’.

As I will be sharing the responses I received, I have to be careful, not to let out the identity of people, hence will say F1, F2 and some other letters.

I gave full marks to the first response, F1 was quick and definite, she wanted to be first as she knew she was right. She said, ‘a red ant nest, a cocoon’.

I then brought up my dilemma.

What should I do now?

Should I leave the nest on the branch or should I cut if off?

F2 joined the conversation.

She said the colony will grow and that red ant bites are terribly painful, however, if you cut off the branch, the ants will lose their home. Whose good should prevail?

She reiterated my dilemma, placing both the pros and cons on the table.

F1 suggested I spray the nest with a strong surf solution. This suggestion was confirmed by F3 as her son had used a surf solution to get rid of bees from a bee hive.

F4 came in now, authoritatively.

‘It is the survival of the fittest.

If you show compassion, they will spread and build multiple houses and your garden will look neglected and horrible. If you cut the branch, they will climb all over you and bite you.

There is no dilemma.

It is you, your garden versus the ants’. Her suggestion was to use an insecticide to kill the invaders.

I was so convinced by the arguments of F4 that I thanked her for her advice and said I would do as she said. F4 replied that it was the advice born of experience.

I was getting ready to annihilate the nest when F5’s compassionate and passionate voice speaking on behalf of the ants joined the debate with a 2-minute blog.

F5 said, ‘Try not to kill them. Ants too belong to the cycle of life. They come for food, not to harm you.’ She said, ‘Observe their behaviour and how they communicate which was better than our internet.’ She wanted us to see the movie “ANTS” with our children and grandchildren to learn about a better world.

Her suggestion was that once the ants leave our tree, plants, kitchen etc., we could use an herbal ant repellant.

This suggestion tugged at my heartstrings and guilt took over. I thanked her for her insights and said that I was deferring my decision.

So, you see, I was convinced by F4 and then by F5 and so the dilemma continued.

F6 and F7 joined the conversation from the sidelines with emojis.

I had also sent the picture to B. who said he observed some red ants. I told him that the ants had joined 4 leaves to make a nest. This brought out the academician in him. He said, I should find out if someone studies entomology in Bangalore, whom I could consult. He did some research and gave me a name. All in all, he was quite fascinated and told me to wait a while before doing anything drastic.

S and M2 were interested up to a level. M1 was busy with board exams.

There were two other interjections, F8 spoke about how her kitchen counter was the ‘flight path’ on which a zillion ants travelled exiting through a window. She thought that perhaps they came to bless her new home.

F4 told her, that hers were house ants and harmless not like the dangerous ones that were nesting in my garden.

F9 had something to say. On opening her kitchen door one night, she saw a carpet of ants — maybe millions. They were carrying something white. She closed the door and went to sleep. Next morning there was no trace of them. F4 explained that the white thing they were carrying were their eggs. They were shifting houses. Considered to be an auspicious time if one wanted to do something special.

F10 came in with her matter-of-fact voice, ‘It is a typical red ants’ home’. They leave as they come once their purpose is served.

And you know what? The ants had the last laugh, they came unannounced and left quietly on the 3rd day. They probably thought we were bad hosts and decided to relocate.

F4 had asked me to keep everyone updated about my decision. When I shared the sad news of the relocation, F2 consoled me saying I was free of the dilemma and it was a ‘Win-Win situation. I wonder!

The conversation fascinated me for various reasons.

• Anything, even ants can be a topic to get people involved in communication and that too focused conversation, not in the least bit frivolous.
• I learnt a lot about myself. I still have the child in me and even little things can excite me. At the same time, I realized that I could easily get influenced and sway from one side to the other, particularly when both sides appear to be right. I was a fence sitter, not able to make a decision until the ants took the decision into their own hands or should I say legs.
• I was fascinated with the ants and the existential dilemma that they caused. The whole episode showed that we humans respond to the environment from different perspectives depending on our own personalities just like the ants who come in different sizes, colour and temperaments.
• In the respondents also I could see the assertiveness coming from knowledge and experience. The Naturalists were concerned with the ecosystem and sustainability. There were academicians, the cheer leaders and the sharers all contributing to the growth of knowledge and understanding. I did not require an entomologist!

Here is some ‘ant trivia’ that I dug out from the internet.

There are 20 quadrillion ants on earth, that’s 2.5 million ants for every human being. Amazing!!

Ants hold the record for the fastest movement in the animal kingdom

They are found on every continent except Antarctica.

Ants don’t have ears.

There are 12,000 different types of ants all over the world.

They are capable of lifting 20 times their own body weight.

Let me conclude with a Japanese Proverb, “Even the wishes of a small ant reach heaven.”