A hole 11 hours in the making, completed after sunset.

Enough said.

This wire-belted P. badius forager is a member of colony containing hundreds of sisters; each wearing age-specific belts.

Gray fox friend monitors my harvester ant research.

An enchating sink hole (ANF, Leon Sinks)

A controlled burn crackles through the piney flatwoods of the ANF

Nothing says paradise like a warm, gulf breeze through the Spanish moss.

Better than gold!

Winged debutantes ready themselves the morning of a mating flight. Later, foreign males will arrive to mate with females on their natal nest.

Female alates (future queens) clamor out of their nest entrance on a June morning. Colonies release a coordinated pulse of male and female sexuals in early summer.

A newly mated foundress begins excavating a nest. She will dig more than 30cm and forage frequently while raising her first brood.

A juvenile American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) seeks a snack in a canal.

This fellow was not shy and kept me company for two field seasons.

This bright eyed toad tumbled out of his burrow during an ant nest excavation. He was returned.

Male fiddler crabs at low tide.

This lubber is host to numerous mites.

A water scorpion (Ranatra) moves across the forest floor.