Garden Anthill, 10th July 2024

In an attempt to attract pollinators to visit our small front garden, we had left the lawn untouched by the mower for well over a year. This had resulted in the lawn grass growing over a metre high before it had collapsed and fallen during heavy wind and rain in the spring of 2024. I decided to try something different in the space by building a stag beetle pyramid. Whilst using the mower to clear an area for the buried logs, I discovered that ants had built an impressive nest rising up around 30cm from the ground. I felt guilty that the nest once totally hidden by the tall grass was now exposed to the hedgerow birds, but hoped that the ants would move on (or down) to a new location. Grabbing my Zoom recorder and some contact microphones I was able to explore the sounds within the nest as thousands of ants moved through the soil. I tried to use my LOM Geophon, but it was significantly affected by the gusts of wind whipping along the road. The resulting recording reminds me of white noise used by some people for relaxation or as a sleep aid. By the next day, no ants could be seen on or around the nest so I was able to create the stag beetle pyramid. In future I will make sure to check the long grass before starting work. This episode was made possible through funding from Arts Council England through their Developing Your Creative Practice grant.