Ants In Action

Early in the morning around zero, still. The day was sunny, around +11, cold, but still weaker wind. Not very warm, anyway.

I was out riding with a bit hurry, but was there anyway. I didn't put anything on my head this time, I assumed the weather warmer. I would have needed it, but the sun gave warmth enough here and there.

I found one wild flower species more, but also the anthill with ants of Formica genus, wood ants, in the picture that was more interesting to me. It's been quite a while since I saw the anthill last. They're not rare, but I can't ride my three-wheeled e-moped in the wood, near anthills. This one was in the edge of the forest, the place I often stop by, because there is much flat rock that I can ride on safely. This capture isn't very clear for I couldn't get very near the hill, but also because the ants were moving very fast all the time.

The ants hibernate deep inside of the hill over the winter. When the snow has melted on top of the anthill and the sun warms the nest, the ants begin to revive and climb on top of it. The nest is most often on the south side of a nearby tree so that the tree does not shade the nest. So was this one. The anthill extends deep into the ground and often the above-ground part is often smaller. 

And what is very incredible is that ant queens can live up to 20 years!

I "walked" the rest of the way back home with the neighbour, that I haven't had time to chat with for a long time. The time from spring to autumn is very nice also in that you can see quite a lot more people out than in cold winter. This applies to me too, although I'm somewhat introvert.