Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-12-09
WARRIOR ANTS.
Insects and Reptiles Fleeing for LIrc
from the Advancing Horde.
comes Of

Insects and Reptiles Fleeing for Llr,
from the Advancing Horde.
1t was in Honduras, near the Carib
bean coast, while on a Government sur
vey, that first saw the warrior ants
those strange insects which marcel
through the tropical forests ii
armies, attacking every living creature
in their path. One intensely hot day, a,
l sat in hammock under the tbatched
roof of my bamboo hut, native came
running in, and. with excited gestures,
Dade me follow him. did so wonder
ingly,, and, going out into the open,
looked in the direction he indicated.
There on the rolling savanna stretched
a wide black belt extending far back
into the deep shadows of the adjacent
forest. 1t rose and fell with every for
nation of the ground, and, like a huge
snake, slowly crept toward the village.
"The warrior ants, )" explained the native
in strange patois of English and Span.
ish which | shall not attempt to initiate.
''They will soon be here" he continued.
'You had better unite your dogs, or the
ants will kill them" Acting upon his
advice l loosed my dogs, and retiring
to safe distance, watched the approach
OF the warriors. In countless multitudes
they swarmed over the plain, marching
in compact order, like we'll. drilled
army. Before them scurried hctcro.
geneous mass of lizards, grasshoppers,
frogs, beetles, and other manner of in.
sects and reptiles, in wild scamper to
reach place Of safety.
Presently the advance guard reached
my hut and disappeared within, then the
main column appeared, and soon the
roof, floor, walls, and rafters were black
with them. Like the soft rustic of dried
grass stirred by gentle breeze came the
sound OF their presence in the leaves of
my matched roof. The gsound in
creased in loudness as the rats, mice.
lizards, cockroachcs, centipedcs, and
Others OF their ilk, who had long made
the ROOT their home, tried vainly to es.
cape. Some succeeded in getting away
from the house, but only to fall victims
to the surrounding hordes without, One
large cockroach, l noticed, made a
plucky fight, but, overpowered by mum.
bers, he gradually relaxed his efforts
and was soon dismcmbered. each ant
carrying off portion of the body as a
trophy.
The most exciting battle was with a
snake about three feet long that tried to
slip away unseen. The ants quickly
surrounded him, however, and fought
with terrible fcrocity. With eyerv
switch of his tail the snake killed a score
OF his tormentors, but their places were
soon filled by the black swarm which
swept Increasingly on. Finally the
OF the snake became fainter
and fainter and at last ceased entirely.
md then, and not until then, did the
ants relinquish their attack. All dav
ong, they marched through the house.
until, at shutdown, the end of the column |
lad passed and was lost to view in the |
thickness Ct the forest
entered tho house and prepared n
'urvey ruefully my larder, but nv an. |
iclpations OF sorrow were premature.
or there were all my provisions as | had
eft them--untouchcd. There was but
me exceptions poor turtle which |
lad tied to stake that morninp. in
ending to keep him alive for few days
,efore making him into soup. He was
tone dead, but the rumpled earth nbout
nm showed that he had made hard fight
or lille. Not dead ant was to be seen:
hey had all been carried off by their
omrades. l aftcrward learned that the
'a's'or ants refuse to touch any food