Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-04-24
THE REASONING ANT.
Something that was Better than In
stinct.

Something that was Better than In.
stincr.
BY Seth Green, the Fish Culturist
''On one of these midsummer after
nOOOnS when scarcely anybody feels am
bilious enough to keep stirring" began
MIR. Green, Il stole away out of the heat
of the blazing August sun and crept I'M
der the shade of tree, where could lie
on my back upon the grass and rest, I'M
disturbed and comfortable. | had dOzed
off almost into the Inconsistencies of
slumber, when, through my half closed
eyes, noticed little black ant vending
It's way down the rugged bark on the
trunk of the tree which shaded me.
| Thinking for moment of the prOverb
| Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and be
wiSe,' it occurred to me that might rest
just as easily if | kept an eve upon the
little creature before me. And so l lay
there and watched him. He took his
time, but kept pegging right along, so
that there could be no such thing as
installing the fact that he had an object
in view. When he got down from the
tree he pointed for spot few feet from
the trunk, where there was quite chunk
of worm worrying himself in vain en-
deavOrs to get free from the lower pOr-
ton of spiders web. Thinks to myself
| You're
| FIGURING FOR PRETTY BIG GAME,
my little fellow, if it's the worm you're
after But the ant didn't seem to be
particularly troubled or hindered by any
such misgivings. When he got over to
the vicinity of the web he paid no atten-
tiOn to the wriggling worm, but COM
menced tracing out some of the different
strands which the spider had woven fOr
his own personal convenience in ascend
! ing from the web to the Overhanging
bOugh of the tree, about six feet above
At last he hit upon the largest of these
strands. After climbing about half way
up he turned around and came back
, down, then proceeding to fasten the real
, portion of his little body to the stronger
!, part of the spiders web. This of course
embarrassed him somewhat, as it die
not tend to facilitate his ease of move
ment. But he kept working and tug
ging away with his fore legs, and finally
i, managed to reach the large strand upOI
, which he had just descended. This hi
began climbing 'hand-Over-hand,' JUS
/, ike man, and all the while he held fas
+ to the web with his hind legs, so that af
, ter he had assembled about foot the web
worm and all hung suspended and dan
! gled in the air. The ant kept on climb
, ing, and it seemed slow and very tedi
: Gus task for him to accomplish, but will
each successive pull of the fore arms HI
O was
: RAISING WEB AND WORM INTO THE TREE
n About midway between the GROUND
4 and the bOugh the captive worm began
to suspect what was going on, and as i
n was very natural that he should prefer
taking his chances on the ground to tax
r ing them at the wood ants nest i'm tn,
r crotch of the tree, the creeping thing be
o gan shaking himself until he had pro
duced quite teeter and was, with hi.
Q own weight and motion combined, test
| ing the strength of the ant, if not tina
h of the strand upon which they hung sus
}. pended. The ant chung tight to tn,
y strand with its fore legs and to the wei
e with its hind legs; but the motion final
q ly forced him to let go of the latter o
r fall himself from the former and becOm
d entangled with the worm. So he drop
y ped his load, and the result was that tn
worm, as he struck, wound up in the sOf
t but strong cord worse than before. Tn
: ant went on up the strand to the bOugt
e proceeded on the limb to the trunk O
the tree, and again commenced his de
g scent to the ground. By this time ha
8 become intensely interested to knOy