Ant Licker

The last four days have been spent on Orpheus Island. Its this little island 30 minutes off shore. No one is on the island except for the research center and the hollywood like resort. So for the most part it typically feels like a deserted island. On the first day we went for an exploration through the mangrove forest on the island. We climbed over, up and under the propped roots of the mangrove trees until we finally reached the watery shores of the ocean. It was like the most intense obstacle course/jungle gym of all time!

 Orpheus is an unusually unique island for it has a mangrove forest and a fringing coral reef. The two are rarely ever present on the same island location. We have been learning a lot about this during lecture. We also learned about crocs and sharks too this week. It was really interesting like how sharks actually have 7 senses when they track their prey. That's just plain crazy! I mean now I know that I don't want to mess with them.

Well now for the highlight of the trip to Orpheus Island. I would like to start by saying I licked an ant's butt and I liked it...a lot. In fact it tasted like lemons. How & why did I lick an ant you asked? Well I'll tell you. It all started during that field work adventure that I was talking about earlier through the mangrove forest. All of sudden Glen stopped and looked at a vine. Then the next thing we knew he had little green tree ants crawling up his arm. Glen then looked at us and said, "Who's ready to lick an ant's butt?" Naturally I decided to volunteer so did the rest of the class. I mean wouldn't you? How many times would you ever get to do that??? As a result after I finally caught one off Glen's arm (those little guys are fast) I licked it and WALAH lemons. YUMMMMMMMmmmm! I guess the aboriginals use to them for candy and to make flavored water. Nowadays people are using them for ice cream.

I liked these ants so much we actually decided to do our research on them. They are also known by the name of weaver ants because they weave nests from leaves and the silk of their larvae. We wanted to see if we increased the size of the colony within in the tank if they would build an additional nest to accommodate for the increased colony member size. At first they tried to add another leaf to one of the nests but because they are territorial no one would let them move in. There was a bit of aggression amongst the ants too. Eventually after the experiment they did build a nest which was pretty cool.

We also went snorkeling a lot and saw tons of fringing coral reef. We also saw some of the damage done to the coral reef by Cyclone Yasi. There were more beautiful fish everywhere. Then I swam ashore to one of the beaches and with the help of some of the guys knocked coconuts down from the tree with a giant log. Then I cracked mine open after much effort on a log and a rock. It was really difficult to get the green part of the coconut open. Cracking the brown part was easy though. Then I broke it open finally and drank the sweet coconut water as it drizzled down my chin. I then ate the flesh inside. At this point though I stabbed the coconut shell through my hand. I think I may be the only person in existence that was injured by a coconut. They were delicious. After the coconut fiasco we went snorkeling again over some GIANT and I mean giant clams. They were the biggest things I've ever seen.

During the trip I also saw lots of green tree frogs. In fact one lived in the frame of our door. I also found a viper and held it. It felt so cool having its muscles contract in my hands. Overall it was a fun time minus the attack of the ants and the spider the size of an orange.

Off to Cairns and the rainforest tomorrow.

Me with the Viper

Orpheus island

Coral from the Snorkeling Trip

Snorkeling Trip