Here is an updated look at our ant farm (click here for a previous picture, it's at the bottom). For the past few weeks they have made no new tunnels, instead concentrating their efforts on trying to get off the farm. They have spent days trying to cut through the hard plastic at the top corner of the box, to no avail. Yes, it is kind of sad. No, we will not let them go. We got a warning on the instructions that came with the ants saying, "IT IS ILLEGAL TO RELEASE LIVE..*something something*... INTO THE WILD." They're from California anyway, I bet they wouldn't like Alabama. Plus, I read somewhere else that released harvester ants can cause structural destruction to buildings! Oh wait, when I looked today they have started a little side tunnel.
Remember the lame amaryllis that I got from WalMart? Turns out it came with another present. I had been looking up how to take care of amaryllises, trying to decide if I should try to keep it through the year and tend to it carefully enough that it would bloom again at the end of the year or next spring. I think the majority of me knew that it probably wouldn't work out- not only do they take up a lot of room when their leaves grow so huge, but what if we moved? And what about the nasty raccoon that likes to uproot all of our plants outside? But that part of me that admires gardeners, the part of me that wanted to show everyone I could do it and wanted to satisfaction of seeing the beautiful blooms again hung on. So the website that instructed me how to care for amaryllis bulbs sat up on my web browser for several days in silent suspense as to what my decision would be.
In the mean time, we started seeing some teensy ants showing up on the table we keep most of our indoor plants on. We couldn't figure out where they came from. One morning we came down and there were about 75 of them walking around. AHH! So, after sending those little gals to a quick end, I decided it was time to uproot the amaryllises. So outside we went and dumped out all the dirt. Guess what? My walmart Amaryllis, the one with the dried up dirt thing that expands when you put water in it? It came with it's own colony of ant eggs. After we dumped most of the dirt out Abigail said, "Wow, that's full of lots of ants!" I looked at it and didn't see anything, but when I looked closer and longer, the whole thing was crawling with tiny ants! And some of the eggs hadn't hatched yet. I think I made a good decision, but I'm wondering- where did those ants come from, don't they know it's illegal to travel across states like that? Now they live in our backyard! I hope that they don't wreak any havoc.
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| Abigail and Daddy looking for the penny she buried for him for a "birthday gift" This is where we later dumped our dirt from the pots, so it's not completely random. |
We have a new pet at our house- a caterpillar. Abigail didn't learn her lesson about washing bugs I guess, because I came in from outside today to find her washing the caterpillar. Poor little guy. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure it will live through the experience. I hope she understands now that it's not the best for bugs AND we do NOT want her to do it! I believe this is an Eastern Tent Caterpillar, which turns into a moth and is considered a pest.
Oh, and, as promised, here is a link to picture of my dish mat when it still lived at Betsy's house. Isn't it pretty?
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