Friday, February 1, 2008

Ants

And if you're in the mood for more, what about listening to "A year in the life of Ants" from BBC Radio 4. They say....

"This is a radio series perhaps unlike anything you have listened to before! Recorded over a year, the series charts the fascinating and bizarre lives of two colonies of wood ants; one in a pine forest and the other in a deciduous woodland in Northumberland. Using specially designed microphones, we eavesdrop on the private and noisy activities of the ants; we join the soldiers, workers, nurses and guards within nests, following them as they march through the forest on a highway of ant trails, and we are with them when the nest is attacked by badgers, damaged by mountain bikes, and threatened by tree harvesters, dogs, ferocious storms and predatory birds. "

Originally broadcast in 2003, but available on "listen again"

And if you're in the mood for the printed word, visit the online version of "The Soul of the White Ant" by Eugène N. Marais....originally published in the early 1900's in which he comes to the conclusion that a termite colony should be considered as a single organism....it's a good read!

And finally, by way of light relief, we have Adam and the Ants doing "Prince Charming"