One of the more interesting observations of the circle of life in India is to realize how each life form in the circle is dependent upon those around it, which is less evident at home. I suspect this is a case of conscious awareness vs. unconscious awareness; however, none the less, it is a case for pondering.
Waste is managed here by a trickle down process. The resident humans generate waste due to consumption of stuff, and the residue trickles down to other persons of need or other levels of life, the dogs, cats, cows, crows, and the like. Once this layer has completed its consumption of the stuff, the residue trickles down to the next level and so on. Sooner or later you get to the ants; although, there are those species of ants who assume their rightful place at the top of the process and attempt to be primary consumers of stuff.
Ants are everywhere here, and there are
multiple species, each with its purpose - nothing new there. What is new is that the living quarters for us humans in this tropical environment are not nearly as protected environment as at home. As such, you wind up living with a bunch of ants, and you begin to wonder about who is really in charge – what your purpose is. Am I just a conduit of nutrition to the ants? If I leave something at rest too long - it attracts a crowd regardless of where I am in my environment.
Historically, I have been rather an antagonist towards ants, and that bent has followed me to India. One of my first acquisitions upon residency in our home was to procure a can of ant bomb, which I have used to eradicate my space of ants. After a month of that behavior, I have come to the futile realization of my actions, as I have not modified the behavior of the ants a single iota. You spray, they migrate to a cleaner spot to do their business for a few days, the chemicals wear off, and they move back to the more efficient and historical path.
Waste is managed here by a trickle down process. The resident humans generate waste due to consumption of stuff, and the residue trickles down to other persons of need or other levels of life, the dogs, cats, cows, crows, and the like. Once this layer has completed its consumption of the stuff, the residue trickles down to the next level and so on. Sooner or later you get to the ants; although, there are those species of ants who assume their rightful place at the top of the process and attempt to be primary consumers of stuff.
Ants are everywhere here, and there are
multiple species, each with its purpose - nothing new there. What is new is that the living quarters for us humans in this tropical environment are not nearly as protected environment as at home. As such, you wind up living with a bunch of ants, and you begin to wonder about who is really in charge – what your purpose is. Am I just a conduit of nutrition to the ants? If I leave something at rest too long - it attracts a crowd regardless of where I am in my environment.Historically, I have been rather an antagonist towards ants, and that bent has followed me to India. One of my first acquisitions upon residency in our home was to procure a can of ant bomb, which I have used to eradicate my space of ants. After a month of that behavior, I have come to the futile realization of my actions, as I have not modified the behavior of the ants a single iota. You spray, they migrate to a cleaner spot to do their business for a few days, the chemicals wear off, and they move back to the more efficient and historical path.
Another example of attempted behavioral modification was the ant "hole" that appeared under the cycad in the front of the house. The hole wast about 3 cm across, and its depth was too dark to see bottom. This particular type of ant is a nasty little beasty, and it is not aware that it should not attack a much larger agressor. My first volley was to stuff an immature coconut into the hole as hard as I could. That seemed to stop visible growth of the hole until the grounds keepers could not rationalize why the coconut was stuffed into the hole, and they removed the plug. Within a few hours, the squatters had reclaimed lost territory. Me 0, ants 1. My next move was to drop a few 2 cm pieces of granite into the hole, and then using the output of their work as backfill, I filled in the remaining holes with soil. Using my foot, I tramped the soil quite firmly. Within two days, three small holes have appeared - they are having to work around the stones; however, I fear they have adapted. Me 0, ants 2. Match to the ants.
The buildings (and houses) here are framed by a concrete post and lintel system with blank
spaces filled in by solid concrete blocks. The fascia surface is a couple of layers of cement stucco and a layer of paint. So, essentially, I live in a pile of sand held together by cement, which is a perfect habitat for the ants. One can observe many minor defects in the skin of the house that has a stream of ants coming and going from it, and then you realize the porosity of the walls due to the block construction and gaps in the mortar binding the blocks together, you realize that essentially, the ants are holding the house up.
The buildings (and houses) here are framed by a concrete post and lintel system with blank
spaces filled in by solid concrete blocks. The fascia surface is a couple of layers of cement stucco and a layer of paint. So, essentially, I live in a pile of sand held together by cement, which is a perfect habitat for the ants. One can observe many minor defects in the skin of the house that has a stream of ants coming and going from it, and then you realize the porosity of the walls due to the block construction and gaps in the mortar binding the blocks together, you realize that essentially, the ants are holding the house up. Maybe I'll be a little nicer to the ants as a survival technique - If I let them live, they might not pull out the key piece of sand that the entire house is structurally dependent upon.
Many have commented on the antiquity of ants, and that they will survive the humans when human dominance disappears from the earth, and I accept that. However, here in India at least, without the humans, the ant diet will be greatly impacted. The ants would have to resort to an ancient diet of fiber, which is probably better for them anyway, and they would need to go back to building their own domiciles. I wonder if they have retained the necessary skills to build a decent ant hill from scratch?
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