Leaf-cutting Ants

It must sound either very strange or incredibly ignorant, but the most amazing part of Tikal, Guatemala for me was the line of leaf-cutting ants Dave and I saw on the trail out to the first pyramid. We were looking up and all around at the forest around us - beautiful tropical plants, so dense you couldn't see past the first foot. Our minds hard at work imagining various wildlife we were missing - could their be a jaguar just beyond that nest of vines? - I tripped, and looked down to see these ants.

The ants are larger than your average kitchen pest, but amazingly small compared to their loads. They soldier on, one by one, forming a line from the tallest trees all the way down to their homes. I felt like I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel but it was so much better in real life.

Recalling a story we had been told by a boy from Punta Gorda in Belize (who had come up to Placencia to sell his family's crafts on the beach), about how the ancient Mayans used these "soldier ants" to stitch up wounds. The magical thing about them was that once they grabbed something, they wouldn't let go. It reminded me of the story of the Raccoon who got his hand stuck in a jar because he wouldn't let go of the shiny object inside. So the Mayans would hold the ants up to a deep cut, and use them to pinch the skin back together. The ants wouldn't let go, and the wounds would heal.

At home, I detest ants. In Tikal, I couldn't keep my eyes off of them.