They aren't gone yet. Actually, I didn't use the higher-priced ant bait that I've used before, because the ants often just pack up and move, rather than "take the bait." This time, I bought a large bag of bait that looks like sawdust. I figured that maybe the ants were accustomed to the bait I had been using, so I'd give them something different.
Now I have more evidence that the ants are truly intelligent. They don't need a central nervous system; they have something better. Every cell in their body functions, not only in its regular specialized function, but as a brain cell.
Imagine how intelligent we humans would be if we could think with every cell in our bodies!
Now I know what some of you are thinking: "I let my body think for me all the time." No, no, no, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about intelligence! Doing what your body tells you will only get you in trouble; intelligence is definitely not the right word for that kind of "thinking."
Anyway, the evidence I have is that the ants are learning, just like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Yesterday, I used up the rest of the poison in the giant bag. This afternoon, I discovered that one of the ant colonies had figured out that, as long as no-one ate the stuff, it is harmless. They didn't move out. I don't think they even considered moving. They were content just to leave the sawdust covering above the mountain they had built the day before.
That's just one more bit to add to the mounting evidence that insects have an intelligence greater than we can imagine. Here's more:
I read a few years ago, in one of those magazines that comes with the Sunday paper, that fire ants are ranchers. I'm not kidding. Fire ants herd earwigs around on their underground ranges and use them for food during the long winter, and maybe have discussions about whether Chevy, Dodge, or Ford trucks are better. The Texas ants (by far the largest population) drive Chevys.
Now, in case you don't know what an earwig is, it is one of the most disgusting insects I've ever seen. It is a dark brown color, about 1-1/2 inches long, and it looks slimy. Those grotesque German cockroaches look clean by comparison. Earwigs have pointy things on their tails that look like pinchers. Some people call them "stink-bugs."
When you were a little kid, some bigger kid probably told you that they were called earwigs because they would crawl into your ear at night and cut your auditory nerves with those little pincher things, and you would be deaf for the rest of your life. Bigger kids can be cruel.
Why an ant would want to eat these things is beyond me, but it could be that most of the ants never get involved in the meat-packing part of the mound operations, so they only see the steaks as they are ready to put them on the grill. Earwig steaks probably smell delicious when cooked over mesquite.
Anyway, it's the idea that these ants understand the earwig-ranching business that I think is clear evidence that they are truly intelligent creatures.
Maybe we shouldn't be trying to kill the fire ants. It could be that they provide a vital service. Suppose we suddenly found a way to microwave all of the ant mountains at the same time, using cell phones or something. What would happen to all of the earwigs?
You know how much trouble it is when just one cow gets loose. It takes bunches of police cars and fire trucks to block traffic until the rancher can come along and get the cow back into the fence.
But without the fire ants, there would be no way to manage the earwigs. They'd be crawling into our ears at night, and pretty soon the whole nation would be deaf.
We'd have to find a way to round up the earwigs, then next time we are at war, fly over
with the stealth bomber and drop them on the enemy. Nah… if the enemy were all deaf,
we wouldn't be able to annoy them by blaring rock music in their direction.
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