Ants in the bathroom

It is dry season in Florida and all creatures need water.

I have ants in my bathroom.  They make a very long trek each day, all day, every day, to climb into my house then up the smooth side of a Tervis Tumbler and then down into the waiting reservoir of cool water.  I don’t leave the water there for the ants.  I am leaving it there for my cats.

Each day, I refresh the water for my cats.  Sometimes I do this by pouring water from another cup, into the water cup on the floor.  That way, I can fill it to the rim.  Other days, I pick up the cup from the floor and rinse it out in the sink and start over with fresh water.

Every day, I rescue the ants.  They can’t help it if they are thirsty.  There’s usually a line of ants along the edge of the glass where the water meets the glass.  I rescue these by putting my thumb under the lot of them and raising them up like a mini-tsunami.   And there is always a group of ants swimming together in the middle of the cup, holding each other up. 

I rescue the ants, and put them on terry cloth towels to dry out.  I ponder the confusion the ants must experience when they are placed down on the towel, far away from the scent of their path, their line of previous ants and wonder what they will do when they encounter the loops of the terry cloth.

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