they were creepy and fascinating and I watched them do it.applestar wrote:Are you sure it's ants chopping down seedlings? Mention felled uneaten seedlings and I think cutworms, though it's a bit early for them to be out and about. Another culprit in *my* garden are rabbits who sample and spit out what they don't like.
they also steal seeds, and do all manner of mischievous things. If you watch a random patch of earth for a while, you will see ants up to all kinds of work.
The poster spoke of them fighting each other, I've watched that. Little red ones vs. big black ones on a log. The size difference was vast, but the reds were doing some serious damage. Big black ones would grab a little red, chomp it, and let it tumble away. But the reds were in vast numbers, like a tidal wave. Like the Romans moving in to Gaul.
they are like creepy little insect fascists.