Oh no! I can’t believe the situation I got myself into, AC Family. This week, I was supposed
to do a Thanksgiving special for our favorite fire ant colony, the Fire Nation, but the
unexpected turn of events left my jaw wide open. This savage, meat-eating, and ravenous
ant colony of our Antiverse ant menagerie bit off more than they could chew this week,
which caused a grave situation, and it was all my fault! In the past, these mighty fire
ants were able to properly consume whatever meat I give them. Whether it was a chicken
head, an entire turtle, a mouse, or a savanah monitor lizard, the Fire Nation proved to
be masters at fully finishing off whatever meal I provided them. And so, AC Family, this
week, with it being Canadian Thanksgiving in a few days, I decided to gift the Fire
Nation something that would test their fire ant powers. This Thanksgiving-related gift
was something they had never before had. But how challenging would this meat offering really
be for the Fire Ants? You'll be shocked to know that the turn of events that ensued after
giving my pet fire ants this year's Thanksgiving feast, turned out to be really, really bad!
You’ll find out why by the end of this video. Things are about to get ugly!
Take your seats, everyone, as we enter the Selva de Fuego, the epic paludarium kingdom
of the Fire Nation fire ants, here on the AntsCanada Ant Channel!
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the BELL icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy!
Welcome everyone to the Selva de Fuego, the Amazon river paradise and home to a number
of interdependent creatures, including fish, snails, and shrimp. These tenants have been
long-time settlers of these great waters, having taken on their essential roles within
this gorgeous symbiotic world I've created. Look at these baby snails. They're elephant
snails, and are basically the grandkids and great grandkids of the original two elephant
snails we put into the river of this paludarium, who have long passed. Isn't this amazing AC
Family, being able to watch the coming and going of entire generations, as they grow,
reproduce, and die before our very eyes? It's a very God-like perspective, really.
But this thriving, living, and bioactive river and waterfall are merely an installation to
benefit the real rulers of this entire rainforest plot of Amazon jungle terrain, The Fire Nation.
This governing colony of red tropical fire ants, whose species is known to biologists
as Solenopsis geminata, has proven their might time and time again. They have shown their
mastery of both the water and land features of their home. It's safe to say that The Fire
Nation lives amicably with the other organisms in the Selva de Fuego. But do not be mistaken,
for this fire ant colony can be ruthless and savage!
Fire ants, which originally hail from the tropical jungles of South America, happen
to be top predators in the ecosystems they are part of, as well as very important scavengers.
Featured in our previous videos, we have seen how they could finish relatively big animals
in a matter of days! Yes, AC Family, the Fire Nation has never failed us before. No matter
how we think we are pushing their limits, they continue to rise victorious, conquering
and finishing off their food.
As a celebration of their unbelievable feats over the years, and with it being Canadian
Thanksgiving weekend (Shout out to all those in Canada celebrating Thanksgiving now! And
yes, we Canadians celebrate it a month before you American AC Family), I decided to give
them an iconic Thanksgiving gift. I mean, what could be more Thanksgiving than this
offering? Everyone, I present to you, a raw turkey head. Now wait! Before some of you
start groaning saying this is ghastly and unacceptable, as always, let's make this an
educational video shall we?
This turkey is scientifically known as Meleagris gallopavo, native to the Americas. This particular
turkey head came from a nearby province here in the Philippines, where I currently live.
Locally known as "pabo", turkeys came into the country through the Mexican-Philippine
trade, having been an integral part of Philippine history, which would surprise most Filipinos
as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here.
True to the Thanksgiving theme, I plated the turkey with colorful veggies. But for sure,
the ants will turn up their antennae at these garnishes ‘coz their mandibles are set only
on the main prize – this gigantic and magnificent turkey head. Before we serve this delishous
treat, let’s have a closer look. These warts you see on the turkey's skin are actually
called "caruncles". These caruncles turn red as a sign of sexual maturity in turkeys. For
a Tom, i.e. an adult male turkey, the caruncles change into a deeper hue of red as it tries
to attract female partners. And the more testosterone a Tom has, the more intense the color gets.
Woah! I do hope that this turkey lived a happy, satisfying life and was able to pass on his
genes.
Before giving our offering to our fire ant colony, let’s take a look at what these
little beasts are up to, shall we? Hmm, workers are scavenging for food both on the surface
of the water and on land. Some continue to wander across the wood bridges which that
span the Selva de Fuego. These ants are all foraging for food. This was all expected,
since I decided to portion their feedings this week, to prepare them for their special
treat. The Fire Nation was indeed hungry.
And so AC Family, without further ado, let’s get the ball rolling. Putting in the turkey
head, in 3 – 2 – 1
Sticking the turkey head into the ants' lair, some brave workers decided to attack the monstrous
food. From below, they could smell the turkey head. Oh! Especially with its body fluids
still dripping from it. I could only imagine what the ants must be thinking. What is this
gigantic monster having fallen from the skies? Is it gonna eat us? We better make the first
move and attack!
Unlike when I fed them a chicken head last Christmas, I made sure not to offer this meat
straight from the fridge, so the fire ants, who naturally don't like anything chilled,
wouldn't have to wait for the meat to thaw. It was consumption-ready now!
I allowed the rest of the colony to hear the good news. And what happened next took my
breath away!
Look AC Family, the ravenous colony moved in now to attack in droves. The feeding frenzy
had officially begun! Eating has always truly been a social event for the Fire Nation, and
this meal was no exception. The fresh turkey meat attracts thousands of ants to the scene.
Working inward from all angles, swarms of fire ants were gnawing into the skin. From
the snood, to the neck, everyone was in a hurry to penetrate the thick, fatty skin of
this turkey.
The ants particularly love the turkey’s caruncles. These wart-looking body parts contain
filling that will not only give them their much-needed protein, but will also provide
the colony with needed fats. As we have seen in past videos, these fire ants will eat almost
anything, but, they do have a preference for all things greasey, fatty, and meaty. This
enormous turkey head will be more than sufficient to help grow the colony, as if they need to
grow any larger, but you know! We love to spoil them!
AC Family, let’s take a closer look into the marvelous process of ant-eating. (music
lang)
I left the ants in peace for a few hours. And when I came back to check on them in the
middle night, what I saw was staggering!
In the stillness of the night, the Fire Nation works tirelessly. Ants, of various sizes do
their part, contributing to the huge task ahead of them. Here, you can see minors and
majors helping one another tear into the thick skin of the turkey.
Time is of the essence here because the meat is being exposed now to various predators
and scavengers, possible thieves in the night who might claim this bounty from them. The
Fire Nation were experienced at dealing with such opportunists, first-hand. Case in point,
back when they had the chicken head, flies tried to infiltrate and partake in the festivities.
These flies had every intention of not only feeding from the meat, but more importantly
lay their eggs, which would, in turn, release their young, maggots! Ughhh... Once maggots
were in the picture, there would be no stopping them from eating everything and getting everywhere!
Gross, right?! Being worm-phobic, I detest anything worm-like including maggots, and
don't care to see a seething swarm of maggots in the Antiverse anywhere! Thank goodness
the Fire Nation were efficient defenders against flies, or so I thought...
So the Fire Nation had to stand their ground, and any intruder no matter how small would
be met with blunt force. Fair warning flies and other outsiders, your presence is not
welcome here!
Some ants successfully penetrated the upper layer of turkey, as evidenced by their meat
take-outs. Look, here’s one carrying a big bite. Here’s another one. And here too.
See these dandruff-looking bits here? These are the initial meat bites of the industrious
workers. These small pieces of meat are scattered throughout the surface of the turkey head,
a true sign that this prey is well on the way to being consumed.
But as I stopped and watched, and examined the turkey head further, I began to realize
how the turkey head skin seemed really thick and tough, and it looked rather impenetrable
for the ants at the moment. I began to wonder if this would be a problem, because not being
able to break through the skin from several areas, meant beneath it all, the flesh was
slowly beginning to rot and dry out more and more, which meant a harder time for the ants
to eat the stuff and a greater, more powerful magnet for flies. You see, flies have a great
sense of smell and the smellier this piece of meat gets, the more flies it will attract,
which means a greater chance their horrid babies, meat-loving maggots would enter the
picture.
This turkey was a lot more real estate to defend from flies than anything the Fire Nation
had to defend before.
Maggots would surely be able to chew through the tough skin and dried, decaying meat. My
paranoia was begging to take the best of me. I prayed this would not happen, and hoped
the fire ants would be able to properly eat up the turkey meat before any fly action would
happen.
I checked the skull of the turkey to see how the ants were doing? From the looks of things,
they only made some tiny tears at the surface. What about the wattle? This part of the turkey
head looked even tougher than the rest of the head.
I really needed the Fire Nation to process this entire carcass before flies could get
to it or I would truly have a problem and barf my brains out! Not to mention, I was
afraid this turkey meat would stink up my whole condo if it wasn't finished in due time,
which ugh means more flies!
Anxiety began to creep into my body, as I was beginning to wonder if this big turkey
head was perhaps too big for the colony? Did I, their Creator of Worlds, overestimate the
Fire Nation's might offering them more than they could chew this time? Could this Thanksgiving
gift have potentially been a really big, messy, smelly, and maggoty mistake?
All of my questions were answered when I saw the this next morning.
In the morning, the turkey looked generally unchanged. From afar, it looked like as though
its remains were untouched. There were less workers now, it seemed, perhaps there were
busy excavating the inside, or at least this is what I hoped.
We can see attempts of ants entering through the ears, eyes, and beak, but in general,
the turkey head looked resilient from the ant bites and excavation attempts. That is
some really tough skin!
Speaking of which, have a closer look at the skin. Here, you can see how its once fatty
and supple skin and caruncles, have become dried up, tough meat jerky. Not to be super
gross, but the flesh somehow reminded me of smoked ham. This was not so much a good thing
because the tougher and drier this flesh gets, the harder it was and the longer it would
take for the ants to breakdown, and again I was not ready in life for maggots! Please
God no!!!
It is important to emphasize too that the ant room reeked of decomposing meat by now.
I had to use a surgical mask while filming because the stench of this rotting meat made
me gag.
And then, my worst fears had come true!
Oh no! Flies.
I managed to spot a fly taking off from the turkey head, but before I could turn on my
camera to film it, it had flown straight for the window through it had likely entered the
Ant Room, windows which I couldn't keep closed, because of the stench from the turkey meat,
which would fill my entire home and probably at this point, the entire floor of my building!
Anxiety set in to know that this fly, which seemed to have evaded the fire ants, could
have already laid its eggs onto the turkey.
But AC Family, here's where I need your help! Should I go ahead and remove the turkey head
from the Selva de Fuego and throw it out along with the poor workers that may happen to be
working within the turkey head? Or should I leave it in the Selva de Fuego and just
follow whatever happens next? Or should I try something else! AC Family, please take
the time to help me out by voting in this ipoll here! As always, you help determine
the fates and events of the Antiverse.
Tune in next week to see what happens next!
AC Family, no! This has turned into quite the disaster if you ask me! I bet we have
an army of maggots coming up and truth be told, I don't know how the Fire Nation will
be able to deal with them. But I am totally phobic of worms and know myself. I won't be
able to clean up after a tonne of maggots in the Selva de Fuego, and trust me, guys
they get EVERYWHERE! Anyway, whatever the case, I will continue to film the ensuing
events just for you, guys, because in a weird way, and also in the name of science, I am
interested to see how all of this will play out!
So you know what to do! Smash that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON for notifications now,
so you don't miss out on this turkey saga! And don't forget to hit the LIKE button every
single time, including now! It would really help a lot!
If you're new to the channel, and want to catch up on all your AntsCanada Lore, feel
free to binge watch this complete story line playlist here, which traces the origins of
all the ant colonies of the ant room, so you can follow their stories and better appreciate
how these ant kingdoms came to be, and why we love them so much!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you'd like to see extended
play footage of the fire ants devouring the raw turkey head, or at least trying to do
so.
And now it's time for the AC Question of the Week! Last week we asked:
What is gut-loading?
Congratulations to Editor Flame who correctly answered:
Gut loading is the process by which an animal's prey is raised and fed nutritious foods with
the intention of passing those nutrients to the animal for which the prey is intended.
Congratulations, Editor Flame, you just won a free e-book handbook from our shop!
In this week's AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What are the wart-like growths of a turkey called?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free e-book handbook
from our shop!
Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST. Please remember
to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making
more. It's ant love forever!