Hello AC Family
Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:11 pm
Hello Everyone, the names GemiiChan <3
Firstly I want to say that I've been following AntsCanada for a while now, so I not entirely new to the AC Fam or Mikey and his channel! With that out of the way, I have final rationalized it and decided to become an Ant Hobbyist!
Some background: I've had a very complicated relationship with Ants, or rather bugs in general but ants in particular. My first real encounter with them left me scared, literally. I was so unlucky to be running with socks and landed in a Red Fire Ant colony when I was younger. The stings were some of the most painful things I've experienced, and I've been bitten by an attacking dog! However my fascination with ants has always been the one variable I couldn't account for and even tried making my own colony (which failed horribly because at the time mikey and youtube weren't in existence yet and I didn't know that a queen was needed for a thriving colony!). Why did I still have a curious need to know about them? Not super into it but enough to marvel at their large and impressive works of art and social structures.
Being a graphic design artist and political activist, I've referenced them in countless art articles, as well as social debates, and my respect for their power and organizational fortitude has always been keen. But I've never considered having them as pets. I honestly just never felt qualified. Even though watching watching Mikey's videos were awesome with his words of encouragement, I just never felt like it was the right time and considering I live in the LA area in a small apartment, nuptial flights or escaping ants just gave me nightmares.
For the longest time, I've live vicariously through Mikey and the antiverse as my way of having a connection to them. It was enough to see them on camera doing their amazing things and overcoming challenges they faced being within their respective enclosures. I told myself this was enough. I also opted out of being a deeply involved member of the AC family as well, seeing as I more so kept my distance and actually owing ants was never my plan, so in a sense I felt like i was..."cheating" for a lack of a better word. Why would I engage and enjoy the splendor when I never planned on actually owning a colony of my own?
I gave up on the thoughts and continued with my journey; needless to say, I fell completely off watching Mikeys videos for a while and ultimately kept my distance involving anything related to ants. Fast forwarding to about last week, a video from popped up on my feed...it was about "The Dark Knights". Watching the video filled me with a renewed sense of wanting to be immersed in the AC family info circle once again, but there was a few particular things about this video that gave me hope that I might actually be able to own my own colony...
This video was about The Dark Knights, which was a surprise to find that they were actually native to my region. But that wasnt what caught my intrigue, it was the fact that these particular ants DONT HAVE NUPTIAL FLIGHTS!!! My worst fear, right out the door. But the seemingly perfect colony didnt stop there with the amazing news.They also are polygynous! Meaning more then one queen was able to be there so the colony could live a long and beautiful time. The next, as mikey stated, "They are in fact the perfect colony to keep", which really gave me hope that I would be able to take my time and give them the maximum conditions for a thriving and wonderful life as my pet and gain deeper insight and understanding of them. The final thing is their understanding of limits, they seemed to understand the limits of their habitat and tended to maintain a steady growth, which meant I would be able to keep up with things on a time table to maintain their natural order and future growth.
Of course there were other things that contributed it, but that video was definitely the tipping point, so here I arrive as a new hobbyist looking to get my entry in the wonderful world that is the AC family. I cant wait to share some of my own amazing stories and meet some of you!
Firstly I want to say that I've been following AntsCanada for a while now, so I not entirely new to the AC Fam or Mikey and his channel! With that out of the way, I have final rationalized it and decided to become an Ant Hobbyist!
Some background: I've had a very complicated relationship with Ants, or rather bugs in general but ants in particular. My first real encounter with them left me scared, literally. I was so unlucky to be running with socks and landed in a Red Fire Ant colony when I was younger. The stings were some of the most painful things I've experienced, and I've been bitten by an attacking dog! However my fascination with ants has always been the one variable I couldn't account for and even tried making my own colony (which failed horribly because at the time mikey and youtube weren't in existence yet and I didn't know that a queen was needed for a thriving colony!). Why did I still have a curious need to know about them? Not super into it but enough to marvel at their large and impressive works of art and social structures.
Being a graphic design artist and political activist, I've referenced them in countless art articles, as well as social debates, and my respect for their power and organizational fortitude has always been keen. But I've never considered having them as pets. I honestly just never felt qualified. Even though watching watching Mikey's videos were awesome with his words of encouragement, I just never felt like it was the right time and considering I live in the LA area in a small apartment, nuptial flights or escaping ants just gave me nightmares.
For the longest time, I've live vicariously through Mikey and the antiverse as my way of having a connection to them. It was enough to see them on camera doing their amazing things and overcoming challenges they faced being within their respective enclosures. I told myself this was enough. I also opted out of being a deeply involved member of the AC family as well, seeing as I more so kept my distance and actually owing ants was never my plan, so in a sense I felt like i was..."cheating" for a lack of a better word. Why would I engage and enjoy the splendor when I never planned on actually owning a colony of my own?
I gave up on the thoughts and continued with my journey; needless to say, I fell completely off watching Mikeys videos for a while and ultimately kept my distance involving anything related to ants. Fast forwarding to about last week, a video from popped up on my feed...it was about "The Dark Knights". Watching the video filled me with a renewed sense of wanting to be immersed in the AC family info circle once again, but there was a few particular things about this video that gave me hope that I might actually be able to own my own colony...
This video was about The Dark Knights, which was a surprise to find that they were actually native to my region. But that wasnt what caught my intrigue, it was the fact that these particular ants DONT HAVE NUPTIAL FLIGHTS!!! My worst fear, right out the door. But the seemingly perfect colony didnt stop there with the amazing news.They also are polygynous! Meaning more then one queen was able to be there so the colony could live a long and beautiful time. The next, as mikey stated, "They are in fact the perfect colony to keep", which really gave me hope that I would be able to take my time and give them the maximum conditions for a thriving and wonderful life as my pet and gain deeper insight and understanding of them. The final thing is their understanding of limits, they seemed to understand the limits of their habitat and tended to maintain a steady growth, which meant I would be able to keep up with things on a time table to maintain their natural order and future growth.
Of course there were other things that contributed it, but that video was definitely the tipping point, so here I arrive as a new hobbyist looking to get my entry in the wonderful world that is the AC family. I cant wait to share some of my own amazing stories and meet some of you!
<3