In February, we did a unit study on Truman's Aunt Farm, a very fun book about a boy who sends away for ants and gets AUNTS.  Being a good hsing mom, I had ordered an ant farm and the corresponding ants to go into it so my kids could study ants up close and personal.  Unfortunately, the ants took much longer coming due to the record cold temperatures we experienced in So Cal that month(global warming?!? but I digress).  So about a month ago, the ants arrived.  We got home late one night and I realized that the ants had arrived in the mail.  BW decided that the ants needed to be placed in the ant farm right away.

The kids enjoyed watching them - for a day or two.  I have to admit that I was completely fascinated and would find myself watching them for quite a while whenever I would walk by the shelf they were on.  It was amazing to see them dig tunnels, lift dirt, bury their dead!!, use teamwork, etc.  They were also amazing at sticking to a schedule without a clock.  Every night at 10:00 they would all meet for a "pow wow" and time of grooming together on one level of the farm.  After about a week and a half, they had pretty much finished digging their tunnels and began building hills of dirt and then moving the hills to other places.  My scientific conclusion: they were bored and just were moving dirt from one place to another.  They made me exhausted at times just watching them. 

The booklet that came with the ants said that they only needed to be fed once a week and a dropperful of water every other day.  So every Sunday, I diligently placed a small piece of fruit into the farm and watched how quickly news spread of its arrival and see the swarm of ants around the fruit.  Mind you, we also have a dove, a fish and two cats not to mention 4 children to remember to feed!  And, I should say that during this time, if an ant happened to appear in my kitchen, it was squished quite promptly. 

The booklet also recommended putting a birdseed in and watch the ants play with it.  Our(well really my at this point) ants buried the seed!  Then over the next few days since the water ended up being poured on it ended up sprouting!  Then I got to watch the ants carry away the sprout - I called the kids over.  Their reaction was not as enthusiastic as my own.

Then came the day when boy1 climbed on the arm of the couch to point to the ants, ended up grabbing hold of it and started to shake it like an etch-a-sketch.  Fortunately, my ants were rescued before any major harm was done to their tunnels though they were pretty shaken by their earthquake and the farm was upgraded to the mantle out of little boy's reach.

So, this past Sunday, I checked the booklet again to see what else they eat.  Thought I would switch up their diet a little beyone the apple or canteloupe I had been feeding them.  The book said that they enjoy eating leaves - particularly leaves from fruit trees.  The booklet said that it would be fun to watch them nibble on the leaf.  It just so happens we have an orange tree in the backyard so I pulled off a leaf and shoved it into the farm.  Sure enough, word spread quickly and they ate and then tried to move the leaf around.

A couple hours later, I noticed that some were pretty still.  Probably sleeping.  A couple hours later, I looked and only one was still moving.  The next morning there was no movement at all.

I KILLED THE ANTS!!!!!!

When I mentioned it to BW, he asked why I had felt the need to change their diet.  The kids overheard and asked why I had fed the ants a poisoned leaf.  I explained to them how it had happened.  Suddenly the ants that they hadn't been interested in were their best friends that their mom had killed!!

Today, as I emptied the farm, Boy6 asked if we would ever have ants again.  I told him maybe someday...Think I'll try butterflies next so I can just release them without getting attached!

-J