Camp Pasquaney - Annual Yearbook (Hebron, NH)

Page 80 text:

76 THE PAsQUA NEY ANNUAL larvae which hatch from the eggs, keeping them in warm chambers and feeding them. The larvae grow for about a m-onth and then spin c-ocoons around themselves. From these they emerge, full-grown ants, in about three weeks. VVhen you open an ant hill, you see the workers rushing about with these cocoons. But it is difficult to determine the construction of an ant hill by pulling it apart. If you examined it care- fully you would find that tunnels lead to underground chambers where the food, the cocoons, and the eggs are kept. The workers' duty is to get food and nourishment for all, and the many ingenious ways by which it is procured speak best for the intelli- gence of ants. They usually feed on plants, the dead bodies of ani- mals, and other insects. But they seem to have reached almost human intelligence in their keeping of cows, for such are the aphids, which give a kind of sweet syrup. Again they rival human gardeners in their growing of mushrooms for food. Ants ar-e blind, but their sensitive feelers almost take the place of eyes. That they have some means of com- munication by rubbing their feelers together, has been proved. But whether ants are intelligent, wheth- er they have thoughts or merely rely on instinct, is a question hotly debated by naturalists. Are they subject to emotions such as joy, fear 5 and sorrow? Some scientists claim they have seen unmistakable signs of emotion. They have seen ants running about with hilarious joy and prancing on the hind legs, as after some great victory. But, on -the other hand, if the soldiers have been defeated, the whole colony seems to be greatly d-epress-ed. However, no1body's opinion can be taken as Hnal because of the great gap which their small size and their lack of the organ of sight and the power of speech places between them and man. Perhaps some day naturalists by careful study and the use of a powerful microsc-op-e will be able to tell what one ant is communicating to another through his feelers. But until then all sp-eculations concern- ing an-ts' intelligence must be vague. Clement Scott, Jr. SUNDRY REMARKS OF THE SKUNK FAMILY Bless my soul, if it do-esn't seem quiet without those boys, sighed Mrs. Sally Skunk to her better half one Sunday morning. Dont you kind of miss them, dear ? Miss them V' burst out the head of the Skunk family. Yes I do. And it's the luckiest miss I can think of right n-ow. And with this pronunciamento, he proceeded to smooth down a few unruly hairs which were diminishing the effect of perfect neatness and dignity which characterized him. They

Page 79 text:

THE PASQUANEY ANNUAL 75 l Photograph by F. O. Reed ALONG THE NATURE. TRAIL In this way, by knowledlge of certain facts an-d a few mechanical aids, Nature in its -own sur-r-oundings was bro-ught to the atten-ti-on of every inhabitant of Camp and every visitor to it. Partly because o-f the pressure of other activities, the group who fol- lowed Na-ture for its own sake, and who entered the natural history con-tests this summer was limited. But the zeal -of this group was very great. Perhaps, the mo-st remarkable achievemenft of any boy was that made by William F. Wingard. Un account of his splendid work on spidiers, he won th-e me-dal for the best collection and the medal for the best research. Clement Scott, jr., whose contribution follows, won the medal for the best essay. W. Stephen Thomas, N atzpralisf. THE PRIZE ESSAY ANTS Man has a great deal of trouble with government. He has tried monarchies and democracies, dic- tatorshipsg but never has he found as smoothly-working. a government as -that of th-e ant. The ant's gov- ernment is run on socialisticlines, since there is no private property, each individual working for the state, and being fed and housed by the sta-t-e. There is no lazy leisure class, there is no down-tro-dden po-or class, everybody is working at the Particular task for which he is best suited. It is th-e ideal type of s-ocialism. Probably the reason it works s-o w-ell is because of the un- boun-ded patriotism of each ant.. They toil c-easelesslyg they are always ready to give their lives for the good o-f all. A There are in each colony usually thre-e kinds of ants. There are the ordinary winged males, and the females, called queens, the workers, who are all females, but unable to lay eggs. The fighters are a distinct class with very powerful jaws. An an-t colony is foundved by a queen who lays eggs from which hatch workers, males, and other queens. These queens sta-rt laying eggs, and the colony grows with surprising rapidity. Th-e workers take charge of the white, grub-like

Page 81 text:

THE PASQUANEY ANNUAL 77 were immediately blown out of place again, however, by the wind- a rather chilly wind, at that, for fall was fast approaching+and this served to irritate Samuel all the more. F-or plainly he was not in a happy frame of mind anyhow. Uhr, come now, -dear! You mustn't be so bitter just because one of the little fellows that is always hanging a-round what they call the museum happened to kill little cousin Sidney. You know it was Sidney's own fault, and I always told y-our sister that he'd never come to any good if he kept roaming around as he used to. You know what they say about a rolling stone. Wlio- cares about a rolling stone, broke in her husband. Of c-ourse you don't mind- because he was not on your side of the family. But I don't like 'those two-legged animals anyhow. They call us Pole Cats. The idea! Such an outrage! Donlt they know that our real family name is Meplzitis Mephitica and that we have a coat of arms and every- thing! And they -compare us to some low-born creatures who live with them in the city call-ed cats! So just because we live in the woods, they call us Wood Kitties. I'll 'wood kitty' them! Wliy, just the other morning I was strolling along the stone wall near where they eat- oh, I was coming home from the lodge, s-o don't worry, Sally-when I saw one of the big ones-they call them counsellors, I think-anyhow, heis the one that's always hanging around the carpenter shop-and I up and told him what I 'thought of him and his ways. Yes sir, I gave him an earful, all rightln And having ma-de this point quite clear, Samuel Skunk, Esq., picked up the Skzmktown Sunday Spectator and pro-c-eeded to regard the front page. The first thing to greet his eyes was a picture of a Qarge balloon which had just completed another long flight. It evidently reminded the elder skunk of something which couldn't have been too agreeable. h-e threw down the newspaper and the rattle of it emphasized his remarks which really didn't need to be emphasized at all, for they were quite loud. And another 'thing I d'on't like about them is this habit they have of draping our perfectly beautiful At any rate trees dfown by -our skating rink, with strange balloon-like things, just so visitors can come and look at one of Billy Birch's leaves or Gwendolyn G-oldenrofdls blossom and then ex- claim, 'Oh how interesting? And that stick they drove in the ground right at the foot of our toboggan slide! They call it jacob's Ladder or something like that, fbut I have more fun sliding down that when its covered with snow! And no-w that p-ole that they had an exhibit on is right in the way. Tut, tut, tut, said his wife, soothingly. Don't you get all upset that way, dear. Remember what