house guests

Ants are truly amazing creatures. They farm, they count. Their engineering, hunting and communication are concepts we as humans can barely grasp. They have been known to build bridges out of their own bodies to get a colony across rivers, or when it is too wide for such architecture, they form massive balls (again out of their own bodies) and float through the water, rolling to make sure that no one ant spends too much time below the surface. They can conquer the most unlikely of prey, taking stock of the animals defenses, and finding a way around them. For example, a crab whose shell is seemingly impenetrable, has a weakness in it's eyes. And the ants will find that and move in to devour the crab, entering the body through the eye sockets. But most amazing to me is their communication. They have an innate connection to one another, that lends to amazing feats. They have the ability to move an entire colony of millions across a forest in a single night. That would be like moving the city of Tucson across the state in one evening. While we bog down our minds with logistics and plans, the ants simply understand one another, and just do it. There are no discussions, just sensations.

And while these creatures easily win my heart as my favorite animal, it does not necessarily mean I enjoy it when they move into my house and take over my kitchen. Please friends, go back outside and leave my box of crackers be.