Living with Bill the Ant in Costa Rica is Pura Vida for a Photographer

What is living in Costa Rica like? Outstanding and amazing in many ways and as a photographer I have seen the beautiful and incredible things right on my doorstep and this is an example of what I experienced.

As you know we have leaf cutter ants in the jungle and they are a very busy lot who work very hard all day long. This is a story about their strength and persistence that happened one day.

In his travels across my driveway, in front of my most beloved flowering tree that he and his friends were devastating, a leaf cutter ant we will name Bill picked up a matchstick, you know, one of the wooden ones. This brave soul dropped its leaf and started to carry the match upright as if it were a leaf. Very impressive!

I carefully picked up the matchstick thinking that I would lessen the load. And incredible as it might seem, Bill did not let go and was picked up along with the match, his little feet still trying to march away.

I carried the match, with ant, to the terrace of my house and put it down thinking that he would let go. I guess Bill was looking for his marching band, because he began to march around with the matchstick held high weaving around chairs and tables but remaining on the terrace.

Without hesitation he marched around and around like a soldier carrying his flag. As a photographer I watched and photographed in amazement for over an hour and could not help but wonder when he would drop the match and go on his merry way as he must have been panting by now, not that you can see an ant pant, believe me!

Without hesitation he marched around and around in military precision carrying his flag. As a photographer I watched and photographed in amazement for over an hour and couldnt help but wonder when he would drop the match and go on his merry way as he must have been panting by now, not that you can see an ant pant, believe me!

Now I can truly respect their stamina and persistence when doing their very important job carrying their leaves back to their nest. As Bill became very tired I eventually was able to take the matchstick away and freed him from his load to go back to, what else, carrying leaves.

Who among us would drop a light load to carry a very heavy one for our team? Think about it and what we can learn from this wonderful creature that we often take for granted.

Frank Scott lives in sunny Costa Rica where he is a professional Costa Rica Photographer offering lovely ecophotography tours. Some of his work can be seen in Costa Rica Vacations, a highly popular destination guide to this lovely country.