True Ant Keepers Stories

[Wood~Ant]

Many of us started taking a real interest in ants at an early age, while others got into ant keeping and the study of ants later in life. Mine started around the age of 11 and I have many fun stories to tell of my adventures finding ant nests in the wild and how I began keeping them; but it would be good to hear how other ant lovers first got bitten by the bug, and what they knew about the ants they first found.

As far as I was concerned ants were just black or red back when I was a boy, as I didn't know then that the black ants were Formica lemani and the red ones were Myrmica ruginodis; and as for other colours such as the yellow meadow ant Lasius flavus or the dual coloured wood ants, I never even knew such ants existed until I grew up and moved around Britain in my nursing career.

If you have an amusing story to tell, why not share it with this community as it would be interesting to hear your very first encounter with ants that got you started off wanting to know them better and actually keep them in your home.

[Deleted]

This isn't what got me started or interested but when I was of primary school age we had an annual whole school sports day in front of all the parents. My class mates and I were at the long jump event and sat alongside the sand area awaiting our turn in our little PE shorts. Shortly after sitting down I was overcome by immense pain in my little boys department. Scared and embarrassed I had to sneak a look at what was going on only to find numerous red coloured ants inside my y fronts trying to subdue the immense worm like beast and take it back to their nest. Out of all the years of school sports days it's the only memory that sticks with me.

We had lots of ants nests in the garden at my parents house with black and red ants. I grew up knowing to stay away from the red ones but the black were fine to handle. I never actually considered keeping any until very recently (I'm 35 now) when I was looking for something unusual to keep.

[jeoff82]

When I was about 5 I lifted a paving slab in my nans garden to reveal a 'black ants' nest. I got undressed and sat in it until all the ants covered me. My nan still swears she nearly had a heart attack when she found me sat in this nest covered in ants. We still talk about it today sometimes and laugh about it. Ants for me have always fascinated me since before I can remember.

[Deleted]

I can't define any particular event that got me into ants. I was certainly very interested in them when I was in infant school, probably aged about 5 of 6. Me and my friend used to feed a Formica rufa colony near our school with crumbled up biscuits. I remember saving up my pocket money and buying my first ever factual ant book aged about 9 or 10. I bought my first novel when I was 11 which was a horror novel about killer ants (Peter Tremayne's 'The Ants' , which I still have!). My first attempt at keeping ants, with a queen, was aged 13. I've had absolute disasters with ants, and great successes. I've given lectures on ants whilst on various leadership courses, and they helped me win a local award when I was about 13 or 14.

[Wood~Ant]

I imagine the biscuit crumbs made a nice sweet treat for wood ants Myrm, as normally they eat mainly insect prey and collect honeydew from aphids in the wild.

[arcfyre]

When I was just getting curious about keeping ants I did lots of studies about them and when their nuptial flights were...
So my wife was all happy with my (although she doesn't share my love for ants).
That first night of flying things going round the lights outside I was still at work...she thought she would surprise me and left the front door open for a few flying ants to find their way in, for me to have an easy queen hunt.

She fetched me from work and was all smiles knowing I would be so happy to find her surprise waiting in the living room...

When we got home we were both shocked to find our living room was turned into a termite mating fest.
Not ants at all

They already started shedding wings and there was literally thousands. It took us 2 hours to vacuum up every wing and termite.
Even weeks after we still found wings in shelves

Now I know that in south Africa termites mate first then afterwards come the ants.

Good story to break the ice when friends found out about my "ant hobby".
In south Africa you don't hear of ant farms....ever....unless you've met me.
And maybe some other hidden ant lovers

[ant19]

When I was 11 I found a wild ant colony that I took a liking to. I built a fence around it and fed the ants my apple core.
That's what got me started