Is This a Raft Made Up of Fire Ants? Yeah, It Is!

It’s a natural instinct that helps the subterranean dwellers survive quickly rising waters.

Transcript

00:005.

00:03When human cities flood, you'll often see cars and people in boats floating down the

00:07street.

00:08But when floods occur in the animal kingdom, you might see this, a raft made of ants.

00:12This video was captured in a flooded field in India.

00:15Monsoon rains brought torrents of water cascading through the area, but these red fire ants

00:19were ready with this interesting trick, escaping their anthills and gathering atop one another

00:24to increase their collective buoyancy.

00:26Vishwanath, the environmentalist who captured the video, says she was out observing wildlife

00:30when she saw the floating red mass, saying,

00:32It was the first time that I saw it.

00:34The ants turned themselves into a raft and floated to survive the sudden flood and rise

00:38in water level.

00:39Not only is this a natural instinct for the ants to survive quickly rising waters, but

00:43the insects have been known to float on these living rafts for weeks at a time without ever

00:47succumbing to the deep waters.