MYSTERY OF THE MISSING GRAINS
LT COL NOEL ELLIS
13/VII/2022
With experience, many life’s mysteries get solved. Some take time to fathom & some remain unsolved too. Here is another one which got unravelled.
In our colony, people have installed bird feeders at multiple places. They also spread grains on the stony walking tracks. Some hang grain filled containers on trees too. Birds feel at home and frequent these granaries.
We too wanted to be of some help to the birds. One day, from a Kiryana Shop we picked up assorted grains. Jowar, Bajra, Wheat, Rice and Maize for a start.
A thought used to meander in my mind that it must be hurting delicate beaks of birds when they pick grains spread on stones. To avoid that smarting, we spread them in a flower bed instead. It didn’t take much time for the birds to home on. Soon we had sparrows, doves, bulbuls etc enjoying the spread. Hummingbirds were not party to these adventures as their meal was nectar.
It was fine till summer, then the rains came. Grains got soaked and fluffed up, some even grew fungus. Birds started avoiding them. Many grains sprouted, so the food went missing from the bird’s table.
A thought occurred to me: why not spread it on the road. Firstly, it would be prominently visible and secondly even if it gets wet, it would still remain on the road without spouting. Whenever there is a break in the rain, birds can feed at their own sweet will.
They were not picking up Maize, Wheat and Rice, so we stopped getting them. Why waste grain, we thought? We let the birds enjoy what they liked.
Birds used to leave so many grains. We then reduced the quantity and spread them on alternate days. Second day onwards the frequency of birds visiting reduced. We got worried.
Where were the grains going? Could they be washed away by the rain? Could they be crushed under the wheels of cars? The road cleaners swept the road every day to remove fallen leaves. Could the grains be swept off with their broom strokes? Could it be that birds would have eaten them all? Could there be any nocturnal birds or insects which gobble those grains? Many questions passed the mind.
This morning, when I spread fresh grain, within minutes birds called each other and dived at the buffet. They all gathered for their feast, happy and chirping away & posing for my lens.
Then my camera caught something unusual. Black Ants were carrying the grains away, holding them aloft in their pincers. There was a long row of them, till they climbed over the berm into their nest. The path they were travelling on was absolutely spotless clean, as if that one-inch shiny pathway was swept clear for their easy movement. One string of ants was coming and the other leaving with their catch.
They would stop for a milli second to kiss & greet each other, or pass information where the grains lay. Some sort of messaging was being exchanged. Some of them even climbed the feet of birds, who would jump and hop to another place. Ants bit them, probably to shoo them away, while they picked up the booty.
Now the mystery was revealed. During the ‘no rain time’, these ants were doing their winter stocking by picking up all they could from the road or from wherever food was available. These grains, once in their colonies, would grow molds and feed their little ones as they hatched.
Nature is so fascinating. What more is in store? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© NOEL ELLIS
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