OUR ANTS' YARD 181 



enemies ; keeps game from escaping ; prevents enemies from 

 seeing inside the funnel; makes a good dry house; makes 

 it easy for all near-by ants to rush into the house ; changes 

 the wind to an eddy; is a fine place to bury things you 

 can't move, and serves as a roof to the rooms below. 



KENNETH. I saw some beetles tumble back while try- 

 ing to escape from your crater. One couldn't turn over on 

 your loose earth pellets when on its back. 



ANT. You'll see disadvantages in our crater, too. The 

 pellets roll under our feet when we don't want them to. 

 Some small enemies hide in the loose dirt, and you have 

 learned of one big enemy that does so. Why, sometimes 

 that horned toad buries itself in the dirt of our nest 

 because it's a nice place for him to sleep in daytime. 



CECIL. I suppose the mites and other visitors clean up 

 your yard for you, the same as you clean ours for us. 

 Funny world, isn't it? 



KENNETH. I saw you having trouble while dragging 

 out large pieces of chaff over your earth pellets. So I 

 thought I would help you by paving a part of your yard 

 with a nice, smooth stone, but you covered it up with dirt. 



ANT. We can pave our inner grade with stones if we 

 want to, thank you. 



KENNETH. Why do you make such a large house? 



ANT. Why, I hear that man often enlarges his house 

 and then hires servants to take care of the part he doesn't 

 need. 



KENNETH. Doesn't that funnel around your door run 

 the water in when it rains? 



ANT. Oh, a little, but some of our rooms are high and 

 the lower ones are often drained into earth cracks. 



KENNETH. Why do your funnels grow larger and 

 deeper as the nests grow older? 



