Post B3JZrKRIe5xMbWyMLI by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #B3JZMgOQyKiXiR1F5c by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-02-14T14:25:04Z
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I need to spend more quality time with the colony. I think I'll try a bedtime story. Something that would fascinate them, but also a cautionary tale with a touch of horror. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood
(DIR) Post #B3JZrKRIe5xMbWyMLI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-02-14T14:30:36Z
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Or maybe that's too scary. This is a more tame tale...https://people.com/food/honey-spill-indiana-highway-truck/
(DIR) Post #B3Ja9wF8pXux409wbg by amenonsen@mastodon.social
2026-02-14T14:33:58Z
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@futurebird Yikes! A >50km/h flood of partly fermented molasses does not sound like a good time.(Strange that I had to scroll so far down in that article to figure out that the tank was made of steel; and even then, it's not stated explicitly, only suggested. That was the first question I had!)It's not uncommon for ant colonies to survive floods by forming a dense floating mat of ants, right? I'm sure I've seen that in my childhood, but I don't know if it's only a particular kind of ant.
(DIR) Post #B3JaHgiqQ8svF7kRXs by EVDHmn@ecoevo.social
2026-02-14T14:35:20Z
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@futurebird Well that was a fascinating read This was horrifying.. how do ants defend the opening to the nest in such unnatural disasters?
(DIR) Post #B3JaIQ7XdANW2keImu by photovotary@beige.party
2026-02-14T14:35:26Z
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@futurebird This quote though! "Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage [...] Here and there struggled a form—whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was..."
(DIR) Post #B3JaNOaEm0LAiwRZHE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-02-14T14:36:24Z
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@EVDHmn I'm certain many colonies perished not doing much better than the people. But in those years of aftermath I'd think some ant legends were born.
(DIR) Post #B3JaQ9RdW048dmjc6y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-02-14T14:36:52Z
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@EVDHmn Further, would Boston still be sticky to this day if not for the ants? Who knows.
(DIR) Post #B3JafDmVfpjGQzgTJo by willyyam@mastodon.social
2026-02-14T14:39:32Z
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@futurebird I imagine that if I was an ant, contaminated honey is scarier than molasses with people-shaped lumps in it.IDK, though; I am only guessing that diesel is bad for ants.
(DIR) Post #B3JaoE3U1crNtDuuFE by EVDHmn@ecoevo.social
2026-02-14T14:41:13Z
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@futurebird Ants do know how to get almost any task accomplished, they seem to know how to scale as well!
(DIR) Post #B3JbBMIdXT2U7U2FxA by Longspeak@chirp.enworld.org
2026-02-14T14:45:22Z
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@futurebird Whoa. I just learned about this last night, and then, here you are. Pardon me while I go to play Synchronicity by The Police.
(DIR) Post #B3JbETsnnhe4VXRMcS by finickydesert_1@social.vivaldi.net
2026-02-14T14:45:57Z
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I hope you’re not in Boston because telling them a cosmic horror type story isn’t going to give them a nice dream kind of night; just a sweet, sticky, and filled with sadness kind.
(DIR) Post #B3JbJcbSo2Jv08mWNk by finickydesert_1@social.vivaldi.net
2026-02-14T14:46:53Z
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Are you trying to give Winnie the Pooh nightmares?!
(DIR) Post #B3Jd38wBXDiSGlkC9Y by kim_harding@mastodon.scot
2026-02-14T15:06:19Z
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@futurebird Thanks, that is a fascinating story
(DIR) Post #B3JdMlfFm0IBsgBMDw by hopland@snabelen.no
2026-02-14T15:09:50Z
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@futurebird that has to be the most American disaster I've ever read.