Rose Garden False Accusations

Dearest Friends,

Thanks so much for all the squirrel recipes you sent recently. I really appreciate it; however, I no longer need them.

Instead, if you have any old family recipes or even better, ones that work with an Instant Pot, for leafcutter ants, let me know. Maybe leafcutter ant jellyrolls, Swedish leafcutter ant meatballs, or pecan and leafcutter pie ala mode. Whatever you’ve got.

Let me explain.

You may recall my delight in developing a new rose garden, south of the border. Perfect size to match the casita. Then you may remember my dismay as I discovered it, reduced to shambles by some unknown creature.

As in much of life and the way too often many of us behave, I jumped to an unfounded conclusion, based on insufficient evidence, ready to convict an innocent creature, a squirrel.

Squirrels can be devilish, cannibalistic puppets of their own instincts; however, they are innocent in this specific rose garden crime.

My partner, aka the casita Sherlock, set the crime scene straight.

With the newly installed motion detector light above his head, a few evenings ago, he sat in the rose garden, relaxing and reflecting on his day. Then he spied movement in the rose bush area.

On closer inspection, he caught the scavengers, stolen property in their mouths, encircling the teas and the hybrids.

Leafcutter ants.

Leafcutter ants, well known in Texas and Mexico were the vandals and thieves. We had met these characters soon after we arrived here, even charmed by their behavior. We had lounged on the lower level patio, dining at the bistro table, marveling at their antics. Stunned and amazed, we watched these characters, all one fourth inch in length pass by our feet, carrying leaves twenty times their size and weight.

Comparing them to The Three Stooges in a management setting, we laughed. First, they headed left. Stopping abruptly, they returned in the same direction they had come. Now to the left, on to the right, back to marching straight ahead. They appeared confused, unfocused, traveling fast in one direction only to turn left, then right, back to the left, never seeming to get to their goal. On and on they went. Not ready for a time-motion study, for sure.

Productive? Yes, they are.

Twenty-four hours and these guys can strip a tree, I read. At least I had a few remaining leaves and stems. Perhaps the leafcutter ants here, one of the forty-seven species, had assumed a slower paced, meditative pattern. Or perhaps they were just senior ants, retired, wanting to take life easy, chomping to a slower beat.

Font of all current knowledge, Wikipedia says that next to humans, leafcutter ants form the largest and most complex animal societies on earth. Hmmm…would they elect an incompetent, dishonest, uncaring leader as their Queen? Maybe. Would they ruin their environment, the one which supplies their nutrients? Possibly.

I do not know who took the lead in ruining my roses. It could have been the Minims, the smallest workers. Perhaps it was the Minors, slightly larger and the first line of defense, patrolling and surrounding the area to be attacked — -sort of the Wackenhut security force of the ant world.

More likely it was the Mediae, generalized foragers, as their behavior exhibited, matched with what we had observed earlier — carrying cut leaves back to an underground nest somewhere we could not see. They did not appear as large as the Majors, the largest of the crowd and the ones responsible for carrying the largest loads.

I don’t completely understand all about them; however, I have a hunch that in the weeks to come, I may learn more about leafcutter ants and their societies, including their interaction with fungus, than I thought I’d ever want to know.

I’ve been in deer wars in California. I’ve commanded chipmunk strikes in Oregon. My mother engaged in mole conflicts in Ohio, but I’ve never been in a garden war on foreign soil.

Whoever, whatever, I don’t care. I just want them to leave “my stuff” alone. Period.

Meanwhile, I’ve spread banana peels around the base of the roses and sprayed the stems with lime juice. I’ll keep you updated; meanwhile, don’t accuse anyone without complete evidence and don’t forget to send recipes.