Leaf Day

As noted in the last post, I have been worried about the ants.   I read in the AWM that one of the food treats they will enjoy is a piece of leaf from a fruit tree, so I decided that was just the thing to add some interest to their possibly lackluster lives.  Yes, I am using food as an attempt to conquer ant boredom.

I dropped a small piece of leaf into the habitat and the ants responded with immediate excitement.

Everyone Gathers Around

Unfortunately the leaf piece dropped to the back side of the Farm House and was wedged into the sand.  It took a lot of work for them to free it.

Digging Out Below

Almost Clear

Freedom

The elapsed time for all this activity was about 25 minutes.  After the leaf was freed from behind the Farm House, the ants brought it around to the front. And then they more or less lost interest, at least for the time being.

When I checked back a few minutes later, someone had left the remains of a dead fellow nearby.

???

Later still, the leaf was moved safely underground (and the dead parts disappeared again).  You can barely see in the photo below that the leaf is under the Farm House portal – its a green shadow under the closed off port.    Perhaps they closed off the port to keep the leaf safe?

Leaf Sequesterence