Cantr II Discussion Forum

anyone else like entomology?
where should i start
well my parents yard is literally colonised by black ants, i mean this colony makes some cantr civs look pathetic.
these ants literally have cities. i found 4 seperate metropolitan areas all part of the same ant nation.

now years ago, i mean 20 years ago, there was a black ant colony in the yard, so i grabbed a different kind (they were a dark read and the same size) disturbed the colony and dumped a bunch of these other ants on it. the next day i literally saw the entire colony pack up and march out of the yard, they moved away, queen, eggs cocoons everything they had, they were refugees.

but now, this new and well established empire that spans across my parents entire yard, is a different story. today i spent some time flooding (going organic, cant let the blid dog get into poison or accidentally sniff diatomaceous particles) the colonies, i literally managed to get the hose more than a foot deep strait down below ground level into the one in the middle of the yard. i flooded them ad i saw everything, eggs, coccons pupae, even queens and males bubbling up. but this will not be enough. i looked around the neighbourhood, and finally i found a type of ant that could be harnessed for battle, a species the same size as the black ants, but i have seen over the years literally invading and raiding other colonies for eggs and pupae etc.. to take home and raise as their own.
however i have a few problems. 1 this species bites and i mean hard, much harder than th black ants.
2 the nearest nest i have found is a block and a half away making reinforcements difficult and time consuming and hindering the bombardment that is necessary.
3 omg not only are they hard to catch but to pick them out from amongst their matured captures.
i found 2 good calm nests but with more foreighn ants than of the kind i am trying to grab and 1 more nest but impossible to gather because they are currently raiding someone today and are even harder to catch when in battle mode.

i cannot give up though, i just wish i could get a queen of them and raise a colony of my own of that type. perfect for sending platoons into battle to drive out unwanted nats and clearing up territory.

all this made me think and consider.. it would be neat to have ant clubs, not just to chat about and admire ant farms but. to have wars have a contained battle zone and toss in armies to see who wins

am i nerd enough for ya?

Seriously, you need a job... or a life.

EchoMan wrote:Seriously, you need a job... or a life.

I'm glad you said it, we were all thinking it.

I understood only the 5 percents from all that you wrote.

You know what's really weird? I just read this now, but two days ago I had a conversation with my brother about if ants could jump or not, and if they could, how much fun it would be to have ant-jumping-competitions. We should start and antolympics, I think... (Weightlifting should be impressive, too xD)

I've always said you think too much Viktor.
This is just further proof!

this monday i just got a job, only a few days after i posted that
a life however....

I am happy for you.

Here's how much of a nerd I am. I misread this as 'etymology' and I was all excited about discussing the history of words. I like bugs, too, but now I'm sad.

We could open a new thread on that! I'm sure that would be fun!

I found it interesting Perhaps you could get a pack of anteaters instead? I'm sure they wouldn't bite as much!

Well, get some carpenter ants(? Not sure if that's right name.) and put some of them to normal ant nest.. Just beware, do not let them on you, their bites hurts.. That's would be pretty nice war, maybe 1 kills 8-10 before it dies...

I hope you guys aren't serious. What you're talking about is, morally and ethically, no different than dog fighting. Just because they are insects doesn't mean it's OK to be deliberately cruel to them when they aren't doing anything to bother you.

freiana, I would love to discuss words. Go ahead and start a thread if you want and I'll join in. Otherwise, I'll start one when I think of a good word. Hmmm...maybe 'ethical.'

Of course not seriosly I would put them to fight, althought there are and will be skirmishesh between different nests... but their bites really hurts.

i place the different ants on the colony that needs to be removed, instead of dousing them with chemical or boiling water, i send in raiders to force them to move. in actuality it is the more humane method of ant removal, as they get to move out and live elsewhere.