Nature Note Focuses on Nature’s Clean-Up Crew

Although Naturalist Marianne’s April presentations have been canceled, during April around 7am daily, Marianne is posting a “Nature Note” to the Naturalist Marianne Facebook Page. We’re sharing them on the Russell Lands On Lake Martin Facebook page, too.

These are short, daily tidbits that parents can start the day giving their kids for a look about the natural world. She is doing this with either photos or videos and may include a link for “extended activity.” According to Marianne, “this is intended as a brief science lesson appropriate across multiple age groups.” Here’s one of her latest Nature Notes:

Nature’s Clean-Up Crew

Look closely. Zoom in. What you’re seeing is many tiny 🐜 ANTS 🐜 dismantling a dead TOAD. They are removing tiny bits of the toad and carrying them away for other members of their ant colony to eat. Imagine how many tiny bites it took to remove enough for you to see the toad’s ribs like that! Most likely the ants didn’t kill the toad; instead, they serve as part of the clean-up crew when an animal dies. They are scavengers: that means they eat whatever leftovers that they can find. Just as it’s important to keep the inside of our home clean and free of germs, nature has a clean-up crew to ensure that things don’t sit around and rot too long. Ants are one of the animals that provide this service.

Activity

Take three small pieces of your breakfast and set them aside. Each piece can be very small—the size of a nickel or less. Place the three bits of food in different areas around your yard. Go back and check on them in one hour and then again at lunchtime. How long did it take for a scavenger to find the food? What types of scavengers did you attract? You can repeat this activity using different types of food and using different areas of your yard to find out what sorts of small creatures are out seeking food in certain places. You might be surprised at how quickly they show up!