I was sitting on the dock at our rental cottage off the Elizabeth River and life was good. I had a cigar in one hand a tall glass of Buffalo Trace Bourbon in the other. I also had a fishing pole baited with fresh shrimp leaning against the rail of the dock. Then I caught a spot, then a croaker. As I said, life is good.
Leaning back in my chair I watched the gulls in their aerial ballets and admired a jumping mullet who came out of the water four feet in the air on back-to-back tries. The clouds were soft and fluffy, and a Carolina blue sky peaked through. It was along about then that I noticed an ant working his way across the rails of the dock. Since the fish had stopped biting, I decided to watch the ant. Back and forth he went, like a bumper car at a county fair, searching for a bit of protein, and there was none. But he kept at it, poking around on the sides and beneath the rail, but nothing.
I had been careful not to get any shrimp on the rail and it was spotless. That’s good for humans, but not for the ever-industrious ant.
I decided to give the little fellow a treat and cut off the tiniest sliver of fresh shrimp and put it on the rail. Back and forth went the ant until – ta da – he spotted the shrimp. In an instant, he dived on the small sliver like Scrooge McDuck in his money bin and began gorging himself. Soon a comrade came crisscrossing down the rail and now there were two ants working on their find. The ant family would eat well that evening when the two ants returned to the nest and shared their treasure.
Ants are realty interesting creatures. We don’t pay much attention to them unless they make their way onto a kitchen counter or a picnic blanket, where they are most unwelcome. Ants, though, are quite social insects with highly organized colonies. They are found worldwide and some play crucial ecological roles through soil aeration and even dispersal of seeds.
I quickly forgot about my ant buddies when my rod tip twitched again, and another spot was tugging at my line. It had been a good day for being outside, enjoying a cigar, catching a few fish, and watching ants. What more could a fellow ask?
