Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1900-08-11
SOUTH AFRICAN ANTS.
Their Predatory Powers The anrd
Vaark's Work.

Naafk'S WORK
Tommy ut the front win be making
acquaintance now with a great many
animals and insects with whose friend.
ship he would gladly dispense. One OF the
pests of South Africa are the ants; the
black ones that prey upon Il man S person
when they get the chance, and the white
ones, that eat and enjoy anything from
pair of boots 10 Il bedroom curtain.
When Baldwin was hunting in Africa
between the years 1852 and 1860 taking
the country between Natal and the Fam
best for his quarry, he fell in constantly
with these ants. SO vicious were the al
tentions of the black ones that valiant
hunter though he was. they came off the
victorS in tussel between himself and
them.
Had some exciting sport with sea
cows i'll narrow river with very high
reeds ON both banks, he writes in his
diary: 'EG get a shot | was obliged 10
climb the trees ovcrhanging the river
and had one or two good chances, but the
villainous black ants fell upon me yigor-
ouSly and i'll such countless multitudcS.
biting SO severely that flesh and blood
could not possibly hold ont another see
Ond. | was forced To descend, and an old
sea COW had been lodging for two hours
is indebted to the black ants for her life
The white ants are exceedingly fond of
raiding the happy homes of the Colonists
They undermine the foundations by eat
ing through tkcm-a trick well known to
| the contingent from Australia, where this
South Africa. Tommy" from the Aus
tralian colonies will rank as an old stager
| when dealings with these destructive
nuisanccS are being carried ON, and will
| be able TO narratc many narrowing
story concerning them and their pruweSS
There are several varieties of the ant
! tribe, but they all seem To he fully i'm
pressed with the prOvcrh, I'm union il
strength. \ house mistress will 20 10
bed happy one evening, and the next
| morning when she deSccnds will be con
frontcd with the mangled remains Of
what the night before had been her sit
| ting-room carpet. \ hearty meal has
been furnished hy il Ia legions of ants.
| who have not had the honesty to come
by day for the hospitality that they know
would he denied them, but have secretly
| made their way through the tloor-a vast
and greedy army-and have departed
| again before the household has awak-
rncd.
The anthills of South Africa viii be
| revelation to Tommy" Fancy Il mound
30 feet high and 100 feet in circumfcr
cnce! II. Lincoln Tangyc. the African
South Africa To the protection these.
heaps afforded his camp. I'VE made our
camp ON the sloping sides of n huge ant
hill, protected by its mass and the clump
OF trees growing ON II frOm the bitter
southeast wind On one hill he counted
twenty trees of various sizes growing.
the majority Of them thirty or forty feet
| in height
Happily there is an ant bear in South
| Africa. The Beers call it "aardvaark."
| the earth pig. II and the ants are dead.
| ly enemies, and both work at night. In
! its habit of boring the "aardvaark" is
! lik" the mole, but it is a much more ter
! rifyinS creature to come across unex-
| pcctcdly than is the little brown creature
with which Englishmen are familiar
This busy underground marauder for
gets to fill mp the holes it makes when it
| arrives on the outer crust of the veldt.
| with the consequence that to the rider
these are pitfalls more dangerous than
are the rabbit holes in an English war.
rem 20 horsemen here. II also causes
CONSERVATION to the nervous by tunnel
ing just sufficiently high 10 create SO
ries of conyulsiye earthquakes as
guide to its subterranean promenades
Not guessing what the cause is. it is
alarming 10 see the ground ripple all OF
| Il sudden and mounds OF loose earth be
thrown up here and there.
The "aardvaark" is so ugly, and its ap-
pearance is so sudden and totally unan.
nOunced. that stalwart men have been
| known to fee before il. colonist re
calls one story Of the war in Xululand,
| when an ant bear confronted a sentry on
guard one midnight, with the result that
| Tommy" was so taken aback that he
| fled Immediately, startling the camp with
the awful news that the old gentleman
| was in their midst. London Mail.