206 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



DOROTHY. I suppose it was too late in the season for 

 babies. 



ALBERT. Yes, but one year in late November I saw the 

 same kind of a thing:, and that time there was a bunch of 

 babies stuck together and lying in the mud. An ant 

 grabbed the bunch and took it along. Of course, the nest 

 had been flooded and the ants had climbed up out of the 

 water. 



FLORENCE. I wonder if they didn't take cold? 



ALBERT. That time I lifted the stone twice a day for 

 three days, with the same result each time, and still the 

 mud hadn't dried under it, 



FLORENCE. Did you ever learn how long ants sleep ? 



CECIL. About three hours a day. Some may work 

 while others sleep. Sometimes the workers run over those 

 ants that are snoozing and jostle them around, but the 

 sleepy ones don't make as much fuss about it as you would. 

 The big-headed ones are the most sluggish and hardest to 

 wake. 



DOROTHY. How does an ant act when it wakes up? 



CECIL. Just like you do yawns, opens its jaws, sticks 

 out its tongue, stretches its legs, bathes and combs. 



ALBERT. One night the seven colonies of Carpenters 

 were all mining. When I would place my finger near a 

 door, the ants would run away from home instead of 

 toward it. They didn't want to show me where the nest 

 was. 



FLORENCE. They often hide their nests. They never 

 clear the w r eeds away. We must remember where their 

 homes are or we can't find them next summer. 



DOROTHY. I saw some Carpenters and sow bugs ex- 

 change calls today. 



