By Vladimir Brezina
Do not watch if you are prone to nightmares involving swarming insects! (However, more than 8 million people have not been able to resist watching this classic YouTube video…)
I particularly like the way they carry off the skull in the end… :-)
Some background and explanation is here.
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
 | CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
 | Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
 | Marilyn Albright on The First Leg! |
| CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on Looks Like They Made It! |
 | Pit on Looks Like They Made It! |
| Johna Till Johnson on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
 | Larry Jensen on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| Johna Till Johnson on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
 | Frank Winters on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
| Johna Till Johnson on Halfway There! |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
| Johna Till Johnson on And They’re Off! |
Wind Against Current 
That was incredible! I agree it’s not for the faint of heart, but it was interesting to see how they took the gecko apart in such a short time.
Nancy
LikeLike
Interesting how it took them quite some time to find the gecko in the first place, but once a few of them did, they all did… and also how they teamed up to carry off even the skull and other bones that were much larger than themselves…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh my goodness!
LikeLike
Fascinating, isn’t it? ;-)
LikeLike
The question is…*why* did they carry off the skull? Are they going to eat it, too?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Worship. They’re building an underground altar upon which to perform ritual sacrifice…. :-)
Seriously, that’s a great question, one which Vlad and I are debating now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the idea of the using it as a candle holder, but the ants? One can only imagine…
LikeLike
Let your imagination run riot! :-)
LikeLike
Good grief! And I thought I could eat!!!
Creepy. 😁
LikeLike
There’s only one of you, and there are thousands of them :-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Talk about slow death!
LikeLike
I am pretty sure it was dead already. Otherwise it wouldn’t have sat so still for hours in front of the camera, especially when the ants came…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! That’s true. I didn’t think of that! Ok, then I don’t feel too bad for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had to stop! Yes, prone to nightmares. Plus these little guys like to torment my cat, Parker, as they climb on the outside window and she tries her darndest to get them–cracks me up to watch that.
LikeLike
I think these are not your usual ants, but particularly aggressive ones. Parker would probably not be too happy if she caught even a few of them….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes! There is some serious work ethic!
LikeLike
The team works very hard, and gets the job done in no time :-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I funked it! Once you’d given the clue re: carrying off the skull, that was enough for me & unlike Lot’s wife, I resisted the temptation. However…I’m left with a mental picture of what the video might….oh dear lands!
LikeLike
The imagination makes it so much worse than the reality… :-)
LikeLike
OMG!
LikeLike
Indeed! :-)
LikeLike
Grim. Amazed that they take the bones as well.
LikeLike
As Johna says in answer to N. E. White’s comment above, they are using the bones to build an underground altar… ;-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ants taking over the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
But ants are nothing compared to bacteria, which really do rule the world :-)
LikeLike
Very true, and they are already all over us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, now that is a serious chow-down! Was fascinating watching them carry the bones away – ferocious aren’t they? Happy New Year!
LikeLike
Yes, indeed! They could easily have killed that gecko if it weren’t already dead…
Happy New Year to you!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope…I can’t watch
LikeLike
No problem…. I think you will have gotten the idea from the post and the comments ;-)
LikeLiked by 1 person