I just Destroyed an Ecosystem

[NJCher]

In my mailbox.

Yes, and somehow it was built in an hour.

Here's the story:

Yesterday the mailman knocked on my door. He said, "There's a nest or maybe someone shoved leaves in your mailbox."

I said no way, I had just been in the mailbox an hour earlier. He shrugged and said check it out for yourself, and handed me my mail.

I remembered to check it later. I was astonished at how huge it was. It took up half the mailbox. There were leaves, sticks, and even some coir that "whatever" had retrieved out of my planting baskets. As I pulled it out (fortunately had gloves on) a skazillion ants scattered, even crawling up my arm. There were all kinds of little white things in the nest that the ants seemed to be working on.

The funniest part was a ladybug came out and ran across the top of the mailbox. I think, but not sure, she had a couple ants in her mouth! I imagined her saying, "I was having lunch!!"

I was going to say I've never had anything that odd happen to me in nature, but I did have one other weird incident.

It was about 10 years ago and I opened my front door to find it full of garden soil. My cats, indoor cats, thought this was really cool and immediately jumped on to this soil.

I have never figured out how my entryway was filled with garden soil. It's only about 6' wide and 6' deep. I did take pics with the cats reveling in their newfound playground. Showed this to friends; no one had any idea of how it could have happened.

[FirstLight]

1. ew! bugs!! lol

I get varmints nesting in the garage over winter... usually they're gone by the time I clen up in spring.

Closest thing to what you encountered happened when I went to get some potting siol for a new houseplant. It had been on the deck in a shelving unit with other outside stuff.. Opened the bag and got accosted by a FROG! little guy was sleeping in the dirt!
I gently placed him down in the yard under the deck where it's cool and damp...

Nature always finds a way, doesn't it?

[democrank]

4. Liked your frog story, thank you.

A friend had a seasonal antique/secondhand shop in her barn. One recent spring we opened the barn and began setting up the shop. In a dark corner in the back we found a toad sitting up in the driver’s seat of an old Tonka bulldozer. He didn’t run, didn’t hide….just laid claim to that bulldozer in quite a permanent way.

[FirstLight]

5. omg love it!

When we had property in sonoma, we had an old tractor for grooming the road. Oliver, tractor treads, big orange beast.

The packrats LOVED that shed, and often swiped nuts and bolts etc and swapped out acorns, etc... my dad was not amused... my mom thought it was hilarious. Cuz of course, my dad WAS a total packrat!

[Irish_Dem]

2. I just had a war with ants and flying ants.

Got up at 5 am. It was dark, I only had one light on.

Made my usual hot cup of British Breakfast tea like Grandma drank.
As I was drinking my tea, I felt something biting my ankle.
I saw ants crawling every where on my foot.
I was horrified.

Went to the kitchen sink to get a cold paper towel for my ankle.
Flying ants all over kitchen sink. Tiny little ants all over kitchen floor.
I was shocked. I am meticulous and obsessive about having a clean house.
No idea where these critters came from.
I spent an hour battling the creatures. They have gone to their maker.

[democrank]

3. Sounds like something in the non-human world was trying to copy

one of those plastic see through ant farms.

I think you’re onto something. In my neck of the woods we have an occasional neighborhood pop up “Little Library”, “Little Food Pantry”, even little jigsaw puzzle huts. All free. You could proudly offer “Little Ant Farm” and I bet the kids would love it.

But wait….what about the mail?

Interesting story you wrote for us. I like it.

[Figarosmom]

6. This whole thread is cute

All I have to offer is one day I'm working out in my garden next to one of those half keg planters that I had flowers in and suddenly felt something climbing up my leg inside my jeans. I felt bigger than a bug and scared me half to death. I rolled up my jeans and there was a baby squirrel maybe 2 weeks old. Really tiny and cute. The mom must have nested under the keg which I had on top of an d tree stump. Well. I put the baby back and started going to another part of the garden and wouldn't you know it, the baby followed me. This went on for quite a while, seems the baby adopted me. Well. I gave it a pea to eat and while it was eating ran into the house hoping it would go back under the stump and go to sleep. That whole summer that baby would be there following me around till I gave it something to nibble on. Funny the garden was right there it could have taken anything it wanted to eat.

[NJCher]

7. That is the sweetest story

I would have loved being adopted a a squirrel mommy.