146 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



in, and licks up ants as they attempt to pass his mouth, 

 or as they are hunting for the enemy. 



FLORENCE. He digs a pit so we can't see him, lets the 

 soft under part of his head rest on the ground so you 

 can't bite it, and so his mouth will be just even with the 

 ground, ready to lick you up. 



CECIL. He doesn't care how much the ants run over 

 his hard back or how much they bite it. He is just the 

 color of the dirt around him. Even we can hardly see him 

 unless he moves. 



FLORENCE. At two different times I've seen my cat 

 eating horny toads. 



CECIL. I suppose that snakes and sea gulls eat young 

 ones, but the horns on the back, sides and head would 

 make pretty rough swallowing. 



ALBERT. Maybe these toads get on the trails, and that 

 may account for our ants changing their runways so often. 

 We've been thinking this was done to find a better harvest 

 field. 



CECIL. I think I see now how our ants so often get 

 their legs and abdomens cut off. Horny is afraid of being 

 bitten and so licks and snaps at the ants, often crippling 

 them instead of killing them. 



ALBERT. The toad's jaws are very hard and sharp 

 along the outer edges, and could easily cut an ant in two. 

 Our ants carry out the crippled and sick nearly every day. 

 Harvesting must be rather dangerous business. 



KENNETH. Well, I've been making a collection of those 

 pellets and counting the skulls in them, and this is what I 

 have to report: 



