Fire Ant Raft! You Have to Check This Out!

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

Transcript

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

00:07But 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,

00:18but these red fire ants were ready with this interesting trick,

00:21escaping their anthills and gathering atop one another to increase their collective buoyancy.

00:26Vishwanath, the environmentalist who captured the video,

00:28says she was out observing wildlife when 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 in water level.

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

00:43but the insects have been known to float on these living rafts for weeks at a time

00:46without ever succumbing to the deep waters.