Living with Bill the Ant in Costa Rica is Pura Vida for a Photographer
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My life in Costa Rica has been an outstanding experience with a variety of adventures and events. I have photographed a number of beautiful and incredible sights and this is just one very small example of how close I live to it all.
We all know that there are leaf cutter ants in the jungle and they are responsible to bring leaves to their nest. Listen to this story of the strength, persistence, and dedication to duty of one ant.
In his travels across my driveway, in front of my most beloved flowering tree that he and his friends were devastating, a leaf cutter ant we will name Bill picked up a matchstick, you know, one of the wooden ones. This brave soul dropped its leaf and started to carry the match upright as if it were a leaf. Very impressive!
With care I picked up the matchstick thinking that I would lessen the load. And incredible as it might seem, Bill did not let go and was picked up along with the match, his little feet still trying to march away.
I carried the match, with ant, to the terrace of my house and put it down thinking that he would let go. I guess Bill was looking for his marching band, because he began to march around with the matchstick held high weaving around chairs and tables but remaining on the terrace.
Not faltering for a moment he continued marching around in military precision carrying his treasure. After more than an hour of watching and photographing Bill I could not help but wonder when he would get so tired that he would drop the match as I am sure he was panting by now, and believe me it is really hard to see an ant pant.
Without hesitation he marched around and around in military precision carrying his flag. As a photographer I watched and photographed in amazement for over an hour and couldnt help but wonder when he would drop the match and go on his merry way as he must have been panting by now, not that you can see an ant pant, believe me!
I now have a great respect for their stamina and persistence when they are carrying their leaves back to help their community in building a nest. Eventually Bill became very tired and I took this opportunity to take away the matchstick
Oh, if we could only be like Bill, willing to drop our light load and take on a heavier burden without complaint. There is a lesson here for all.
Frank Scott lives at sunny Costa Rica where he is a professional Costa Rica Photographer offering lovely photography tours. Some of his work can be seen at Costa Rica Vacations, a highly popular travel guide to this lovely country. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
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