Sunday, September 8, 2019

The Ants Go Marching...


Do you remember a children's song called The Ants Go Matching One By One?  It is sung to the tune of When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. The first verse is:

The ants go marching one by one
Hoorah, Hoorah
The ants go marching one by one
Hoorah, Hoorah
The little one stopped to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down in the ground to get out of the rain. 

 It is a fun song for children and has many more verses.

I was coming home from a drive the other day when this song came to mind. Why is the question that comes to your mind. Let me tell you.

As I was walking up to the front of my house I noticed a few little red ants rushing toward my front steps. Oh no. I was about to be invaded by ants!

As I watched I saw hundreds and hundreds of ants rushing that way. Then I noticed that even though part of them ran along the side of the bottom step they all kept going at a full run.

When I called my son out to take a look (he got into the house before I did) he was surprised too. He tried to follow the mass of ants back to their beginning but did not find it.

I have no idea how far they were going or why they were in such a hurry. I can tell you it was quite a sight to see.
 
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14 comments:

  1. Kay G.September 8, 2019 at 8:57 AM

    They follow a trail and if you spray a bit of ant spray on that trail....not sure if it gets rid of them or if they just make a new trail, but that is what we do!

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    1. Emma SpringfieldSeptember 8, 2019 at 1:27 PM

      I am still wondering why they had a trail in the first place.

      Delete
  2. Joanne NoragonSeptember 8, 2019 at 7:58 PM

    Something very big was behind, or something very good was in front.

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  3. bailiSeptember 9, 2019 at 7:42 AM

    such fun song dear Emma

    reminds me such amusing songs from my childhood either
    specially songs about rains :)

    ants are always so organized and mostly disciplined here either
    i enjoy watching their amazing activities

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    1. Emma SpringfieldSeptember 9, 2019 at 11:48 AM

      I know you would have been as mesmerized as I was watching the ants scurrying to wherever they were going.

      Delete
  4. rhymeswithplagueSeptember 10, 2019 at 7:49 AM

    The Ants Go Marching One By One song was new to me, never heard of it. Are there other verses (two by two, three by three, etc.)??? There should be.

    My son who works for a pest control company says to spray Windex on ants and they will leave (so the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding was right).

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    Replies
    1. Emma SpringfieldSeptember 10, 2019 at 12:21 PM

      There are ten verses. The last one has the little one shout THE END. You can probably find it doing a search. Good to know about Windex and the ants. However I live and let live as long as they do not come into my house.

      Delete
  5. John MSeptember 11, 2019 at 10:10 AM

    I use ant poison in little covered plastic containers about an inch by an inch in size. The plan is for the ants to carry the poison back to the queen of the nest. When she dies the whole colony ends.
    It works indoors but I'm not sure about outdoors. Maybe your ants will just keep outside.

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    1. Emma SpringfieldSeptember 11, 2019 at 1:27 PM

      As far as I know they are gone. I have not seen any since then.

      Delete
  6. Beatrice P. BoydSeptember 11, 2019 at 7:36 PM

    I will admit to never hearing that rhyme, Emma, but thanks fir sharing. This past week, I also saw a very large mound of black ants while out walking and I was curious as to why they were there, but never returned to see if they had retreated.

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    1. Emma SpringfieldSeptember 11, 2019 at 8:39 PM

      I did not see their mound. All I saw was the ants scurrying to wherever they were going.

      Delete
  7. nothoughtsnoprayersnonothingSeptember 21, 2019 at 8:22 AM

    I wonder if kids today learn those old fun songs. I remember being a Brownie/Girl Scout and singing at meetings. I went on my daily walk early this morning and saw a huge spider. It was marching at a pretty quick pace. At least there was only one of him/her. At one time in life I would have stepped on it. But now -- as you do -- I appreciate nature.

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