Animal instinct or inherent aptitude?

Some time age, just prior to our wet season I witnessed an extraordinary spectacle on the overhang post of our backyard exit. A group of green ants, only about 6 mm long each, were “transporting” a 15 cm (6 inches) dead lizard up the post, their instinct must have told them that the wet season is imminent and they have to take their provisions to higher ground. The direction was up with the tail in front like a draw shaft of a wagon. Click on picture to enlarge!

I raced to get my camera to capture this amazing occurrence. Friends called this picture as one in a million. It was a mere chance that I went to the backyard earlier than usual to tend to my veggies when I discovered this amazing “show” otherwise it would never have been witnessed. Who knows, perhaps my instinct told me to go earlier.

To move 30cm (12 inches) upwards took the ants only two minutes to accomplish. As you can see in the picture this was teamwork on a grant scale of pulling and shoving.

The moral of the story is: It is a lesson for us humans as these little creatures show us what can be accomplished with teamwork, regardless of body size, by pulling and shoving together in the right direction.

To read my story, “The ubiquitous Green Ants” go to the “Tintota” link on the right side of this blog and when it is open, click on: “Select Author” (See screenshot) and when you see my name – click on it and all my stories come up. - Werner

PS. I offered this exceptional picture (for free) to our daily newspaper “The Cairns Post”, but I never got a reply from them.