I have wanted an ant farm for a long time, but for whatever reason I never got off my butt to go purchase one.  Well, this Christmas I was very fortunate!  My husband found a unique space age habitat filled with nutrition gel.  According to the brochure, in 2003 NASA studied animal life in space to see how successful ants could tunnel in microgravity. Cool huh?

Day 1- The Freak Out!

I arrived from my seven day trip from Canada to find my ants on the bottom of the mail pile.  “Great!” I thought, “They’re surely all dead by now.” Turns out ants are tough lil’ guys, or should I say girls (all ants are female until they decide it’s time to make a male for reproducing). When I opened the package they were stuffed in a little test tube where there wasn’t even enough room to walk.  To my surprise, only 4 ants died from shipping (R.I.P. homies).

As soon as I placed my ants into their new habitat, I realized the next 3 to 6 months were going to be very interesting.  I had my own ant reality show!  I felt the first chapter should be titled, “The Freak Out!” It’s exactly how they acted when I placed them in their new environment.  They were all scrambling around trying to find a way out.  I’m pretty sure I heard one of them screaming, “We’re all going to die!” Poor lil’ ants!  Can you imagine what it would be like if you suddenly got shipped off and placed on an alien planet, like Mars?

Day- 2 – The Injured

They all acted irate for about a day, until one ant, named Henry, decided he was going to make the best out of the situation and start digging.  He dug two tunnels all by himself.  Meanwhile, the rest of the ants were setting up the hospital.  There were two doctors attending to everyone’s injuries.  One of injured didn’t make it; he ended up dying in the waiting room.  For reasons unknown, they placed the dead in a little hole they made.  This confuses me because my brochure said they bring the dead up to the top when they pass, not bury them.  Maybe this is just a space for them to rest momentarily.

Day 3 – There is no getting out!

One by one the ants started to get better and got to work.  I guess realization set in that they weren’t leaving anytime soon.  At one point, I saw them all huddled together debating on the kind of tunnels they wanted to build.  One ant wasn’t feeling the idea and started digging his own, but he soon grew tired and gave up.

Can you believe all these stories told by these ants in just three days?  I can’t wait to see what unfolds next. Lesbian hook ups?  Who ate whose food?  Tammy taking credit for Molly’s work?  It’s all so fasinating! I definitely recommend one of these little gems for your household.