In December I did an inspection at Birch Bay and found a major infestation of carpenter ants. I smacked a joist that I knew was bad and here they came. Because I teach wood destroying organisms for Bellingham Technical College, I grabbed some of the damaged wood, the frass (shavings and chewings from the ants) and yes, a few live ants. I threw them in the back of my truck, tied up in a plastic bag. Call me cruel if you wish, but that is what I did. Then I got a cold, kind of forgot about them but decided to leave them in the truck. That was then and a photo of the wood, when taken from the home that day, is below.
This is now. I am teaching a class this week and took the bag out of my truck. Did not even know if it was still there till I had a revelation. But, sure enough, I found the bag and tore it open on the way into class. A couple early rising home inspection students were there and I told them of my treasure. As we were looking at it and I was pointing out the finer points of frass, the "dead" ant on top started moving, ever so slowly. We decided that we would keep him from escaping, so I can save him as a permanent part of the great ant exhibit. Needing caffeine, I put the two students in charge. Officially, in my capacity as the instructor, I made the most interested student temporarily -- "Keeper of the Ant." After making this appointment, and assigning the responsibility, I went for coffee.
When I got back, the students were both working, and busily so, as keepers of the ant. Except things had changed. Now they were both keepers of the ants. Ended up that about eight of the bugs were scurrying about. I guess, like bees in firewood that come to life when they warm-up, same with the ants. Ants tend to slow down in cold weather, so they did that in the canopy of my truck. Long story short, I put them in another plastic bag and, come Thursday and time for class, I will have quite the display ready. Real C. Modoc Carpenter ants. Silly story but amusing if you could have seen the students keeping track of these hustling insects.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspections
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Brian,
You got that one right. They are tough.
HHHhmmm, interesting story. very similar to my high school biology class. We were disecting frogs that has been in a freezer and after about 45 minutes the frogs slowly start to move. We already have their bellies cut open and then the legs start moving. It really bothered some of the students. We also had a few frogs hopping on the floor with their bellies open.
Sean Allen
This story reminds me of my fight with the termite company. While repairing a shower that had leaked the repairman told me to come over and see what he'd found. Termites! I didn't know what one looked like but I assumed they were little winged animals as cute as a tiny mosquito. They were ugly worm looking things.
I put some in a jar and took them to my office and displayed them on my desk as we waited for the Plant Board to review them. The termite company had refused to acknowledge they were indeed termites and I'd had the termite policy for years and years. They didn't want to help on repairs.
The Plant Board representative came and admired the little creatures for what they were, told the termite company that they needed to help me and I got most of the repairs paid for. Happy ending to story! Wish I had a picture of that jar to show activerain but I'll bet you have photos of a termite.
Oh Barbara,
Thank you I thought that nobody would ever ask to see my termites. Sounds like you had workers, not the winged alates. Here are some I will share with you. They are really more like grubs. This has workers and soldiers.
Steve