Last weekend we were hiking at Bulow Creek State Park with friends. Following our hike we had a picnic at the pavilion there. Once we were about done eating we noticed that the baby (a year old) had dropped a few of her puff snacks on the ground. And one of us had dropped a chip on the ground. What happened next was fascinating and we observed.

Ants immediately ascended upon the puffs. They wasted no time in getting straight to work, all working together as a team, to hoist these things that were much larger than their own body, above their heads and carry them back to their hole. And they moved quickly! All we could see looking down were puff snacks moving across the ground, but upon closer look you could see the team that was making it happen underneath them.

What a wonderful example of team work! I had my kids gather around to observe how these ants quickly worked together to move the food over to their hole. No fighting or arguing about which ant would do what. They just all went to work to reach a goal. By themselves they could have never moved one of those puffs or the chip (they also moved the chip). But by working together as a team they were able to do more than they ever could of on their own.

We humans don't always work together so well. We let ego get in the way about who is going to lead and who will do what and in making sure everyone does their fair share. These things slow us down. We create our own hurdles to reaching our end goal. The ants don't. They are a true team that immediately works together, all focused on the goal at hand. 

Nature is magnificent and there is so much that we can learn from it. This is just one example of many! 

Here are the pictures:

(Above: They moved all these puffs from the picnic tables to their hole off to the side of the pavilion. We watched the puffs be carried away by a team of determined ants.)