Resolution #129: I'm Going To Farm Ants!!!

Date: 5-9-2014

Due Date: 5-9-2015

Resolution: They say having something to take care of can lead to a happier life. I'm not fully sure who "they" are but I think I first heard it in the movie 28 Days with Sandra Bullock. I tried it several years ago when I bought a maintained a pretty well-stocked aquarium. I loved those fish. I spoiled them with blood worms and other yummy non-fish flake meals.

I went home to visit my family for the holidays and returned to a tank filled with dead fish. I guess one of my roommates accidentally kicked the power chord out of the wall and didn't notice. I haven't owned another living thing since.

I think it's time to give pet ownership another shot. I could really use something to take care of and care about even if it is just a bunch of bugs.

Result #129: Though They Didn't Live All That Long, I Did Successfully Managed To Farm Ants For A Little While!!!

Update #1: The Ants Come Marching One By One...

Date: 5-14-2014

Yesterday the farm arrived!!!

Today I got my ants!!!

That's a bit of a carrot in there to keep the little critters fed during shipping. Apparently, these ants are biters. The instructions tell you to throw them in the fridge to get them to calm down before dumping them into their new home.

I think I'm going to try a time-lapse app out on my phone to see what happens tonight while I sleep.

I'll keep you posted.

Update #2: These Little Critters Love Apples…

Date: 5-21-2014

These things went to work pretty quickly. I can't help but think this looks like a space shuttle explosion.

Update #3: Maybe Trying To Own Pets With Such A Low Life Expectancy Wasn't The Best Idea… :(

Date: 6-14-2014

I'm only partially to blame.

The other day, I did a search on the internet to find even though a queen ant can live up to a year-long, all the other members of the colony only live for a couple of months. I wasn't expecting these "pets" to last a life-time but I feel horrible watching them dwindle away. I feel especially horrible when I have to kill them for escaping.

The design of this farm isn't that good. In order to feed these little critters, you have to take off the entire lid. This wasn't that big of a deal when they were busy digging. I could easily wait until they were hanging out at the bottom of the farm and quickly throw in their meal.

They stopped digging about a week ago and do nothing but hang out on the top of their rotting food. I want to clean things up, but the moment I open the lid the few survivors make a break for it.

I've resolved to do the best that I can at making the rest of their existence tolerable but it's a hard task.

I think the biggest problem with the ant farming venture is that there's no way to form an actual bond with these creatures.

I wonder if this is why the Greek Gods gave up on us humans?

Update #4: The Conclusion…

Date: 5-9-2015

I guess I was a bit misguided about how ant farms worked before taking this on as a challenge. It turns out that these childhood novelties are more of an ant concentration camp than a farm. Though I didn't expect the initial batch of ants to live forever, I was expecting the ants to reproduce to keep the tiny exhibit populated.

Nope.

The ants seemed to dig straight down until they hit the bottom, then redirected until they hit the walls. Once they found there was no escape they just hung out at the top of the farm where they waited for death.

After they all died I was going to use their tunnels as a mold to create a sculpture of sorts but the blue jell eventually began to melt and leading to a collapse leading me to get absolutely nothing out of this experiment but guilt and sorrow.

God's speed dead ant... God's speed.