Well, we got back early.

[rebeccmeister]

We managed to collect 600 queens in only two days, meeting our goal early, and decided to return. So I shall spend the Fourth of July weighing and painting queens instead of driving.

We ate lots of pie. Because that is what one does when one visits the town of Julian. I ate strawberry-rhubarb pie, because that is the best. I brought three pies home.

I forgot to pack my sleeping bag and sleeping pad, so I slept in the back of the lab truck. I couldn't stretch out all of the way, but it wasn't too bad, considering. It helped that I did remember my pillow.

We ate a lot of food. I need to remember that I don't need to try and keep up with the boys all of the time. On the other hand, I did find the most queens, thanks to my superb queen-spotting skills.

Okay. Time to relax for a wee bit.

Comments

[popcultureicon.livejournal.com]

We managed to collect 600 queens in only two days
heh.
hehe.
lol

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

LOL

[popcultureicon.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

fabulous gay men.
I have this image of Rebecca having a bunch of men in her house dancing to Madonna or Pink's latest album and having mojitos and talking about the new David Sedaris book as being their total favorite.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Oh, completely. It was a bit crowded, but such a fabulous time.

[earthlingmike.livejournal.com]

Wow, 600 queens sounds like a lot! Did you have to dig through 600 colonies? What kind of ants are you collecting?

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

As you will note in the next post, we were thankfully spared the task of digging through 600 colonies. We actually did dig up a few (12, to be precise) to collect unmated queens and males and workers, but those were for a different project. This particular ant species has a nasty sting (not quite as bad as wasp stings), so I must admit I'm happy we stopped at 12. It's a species of seed-harvester ant known as Pogonomyrmex californicus (yes, the California harvester ant).

[earthlingmike.livejournal.com]

Cool, I'm glad it went well.


Here's an article about part of how ants navigate:

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/natlgeographic/496717.html