Saturday, January 10, 2009

Space-Age Birthday Ants



What's the best way to capture ants without killing them?



This was the dilemma we pondered last night.

Because today is Remy's birthday.
He's 7 years old!

And we let him open a early gift last night, from family who lives in Alabama.

It was a space-age ant habitat.



In 2003 NASA came up with an experiment to study animal life in space and test how ants successfully tunnel in microgravity.

They came up with this cool gel that is complete with nutrients and supplements to promote a healthy ant colony. A gel that wouldn't collapse upon shuttle lift-off.



However, with this awesome kit, ants were not included.



Luckily (or not) we have a big ant pile in our front yard.

And the boys have a healthy fear respect of ants, so they suckered talked their dad into helping.





Our magnificent space-age, ant-catching tool ended up being a...butter knife.





The boys had no problem kicking the ant pile and then running.

Leaving their father to capture angry ants.




Our neighbors must think we're strange. In our front yard, me with my camera, my husband with a knife.





It was big excitement, let me tell ya.




As of last night, only a few ants escaped and died trying.




I'll let you know how it turns out.





Thanks, G'Dad, Debra & Kate!!

Awesome gift and great blog material!!




Camera Critters

Grab a camera and a critter and join Camera Critters weekend meme!



The winner of my New Year Giveaway is Miss Anne!

37 comments:

Aunt Julie said...

Am I first? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Well, first off, Happy Birthday to Remy...hope you LOVE your ants. Take good care of them, now. Don't want to be like one of my kids and break the ant farm. You know what happens then, don't ya? Ants in the sugar! And everywhere else!

Shannon said...

Happy Birthday, Remy!

Enjoy the ants! Just don't let them out!

i beati said...

Happy Birthday Remy - cool kid cool name- ants an interesting gift choice. I'll bet he'll be teaching me soon..Sandy many blessings this new year!!

Anonymous said...

Yea Dad!

Anonymous said...

A very unique gift!
I am eager to know the developments.

Susie said...

Happy Birthday Remy! What a cool gift:-)

angie {the arthur clan} said...

We have had an ant farm forever...and still have never put ants in it. I'm hoping the kids forget about it!

~Angie
www.thearthurclanphotos.blogspot.com

Reader Wil said...

Happy Birthday Remy! How interesting to watch this ant colony at work. I can't wait to see your next posts with the rest of the story, for this is a very informative post.

Twisted Fencepost said...

Congratulations, Miss Anne!
Happy Birthday, Remy!
Awesome gift. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
We would have been in the front yard doing the same thing. But our neighbors are family so they probably would have joined in.

All Things BD said...

Happy birthday Remy! And kudos to you for allowing a container of ants to enter your home. :)

Cassie said...

That looks like fun, but it also makes me feel itchy!!!

Congratulations Miss Anne!!!

Skeller said...

Ok, so the Husband gets major Good-Dad-points for catching ants with a butter knife. ewwwwww.

Mimi said...

I wonder what those ants think going from plain old dirt to space age blue goop!

Dianne said...

I bet those ants were all arguing about who got to be an astronaut

love how happy the kids look, it's wonderful how they make everything an event

Indy said...

Oh boy. I don't think I could catch ants. You HAVE to keep us posted on this one. We had one of those but I killed the ants. So hard to keep them alive. I ordered my ants.

Carletta said...

Happy Birthday to Remy!

Hope this adventure turns out well!
A memorable birthday for sure - for all. :)

NoBS said...

Maybe I'm crazy, but couldn't you have just set the colony open next to the ant hill overnight and let the ants move in on their own? I really have no idea...I do know that you can drown ants and then bring them back to life my pouring salt over them!

Misty DawnS said...

How cool is that?!?! I want one of those... will your husband come over and catch some ants for me too? You and I can take pictures :-P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REMY!!!

Now... I'm back to pouting that I didn't win your giveaway... *sigh*

Sprite's Keeper said...

Wow, great gift! And great excuse to kick ant piles! Happy birthday, Remy!

Sally-Ann said...

I always wanted a ant farm when I was a kid, but it never happened. If you need ants, we have a huge supply here in Tampa. They keep springing up all over our yard. Yep, you can come and get as many as you want.......

Michele said...

Ant farms are super cool and a great gift for a little boy!!
They are neat to watch in their farms!
Many warm birthday wishes to Remy!
~Michele~
Mountain Retreat

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday, Remy !!!

That ant farm looks cool. I'vce always wanted one of those!

Kristin said...

The ant farm came without ants? Strange.

Lilli & Nevada said...

what a neat Birthday gift, a learning experience as well.

Justine said...

First of all, Happy Birthday, Remy!!!!!!!!

Now, it's really funny that you blogged about this today, because Madison also got an ant farm for Christmas, and we just ordered her ants TODAY. Yes Rhea, you are supposed to send in the order for that comes WITH the ant farm to get the RIGHT kind of ants. ROFL!
Madison's is probably cooler than Remy's though, 'cause it glows in the dark. Neener neener.

Justine :o )

nicrogers said...

Dont you need like a queen or something? lol

radvetmom said...

I'm so glad that Remy (and all of you) enjoyed the ant farm!!!! Can't wait to see the colony grow!

Marrdy said...

Happy Birthday Rewy. Tell hubby that if he stands in the ant pile all those ants will crawl up his pants. I know, I have done this!

Mariah said...

We have one of those too~ or we used to I think it is lost somewhere in Christie's room

AppleDebbie said...

Happy Birthday Remy! Have fun with your ant farm!

Mrs Anne said...

Oh my goooooodness!

this has made my entire night!

:) ty ty ty!

my email:
sassafrasanne@hotmail.com

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

How cool. I have seen that ant colony thing before...but I am not bringing ants into my house. What if they escape?

And I can kinda see Donny's new hair cut. I like it...

sassy stephanie said...

Omgosh. That is too funny. Wow how times have changed! Space aged gel?

Mama Dawg said...

That looks so cool!

Natalie said...

oh that is a fun gift and awesome blog material!!! thanks for stopping by my blog.

Andrea said...

OOOHH! We have one of those ant houses! We actually put some ants in it when we lived in the UK.

Unfortunately, they died. We don't know why.

Maybe there is a difference between British and American ants??? Hmmm...

I am getting the "arm hairs on end" just thinking about the crawling ant pile though.

Happy Birthday! I hope the celebrations are fun! I would love to do that for MY birthday~!

Ronnica said...

That's really neat! Though I don't know that I'd want to try to catch ants. I would feel like they were crawling over me for hours...