# Turkeys may use ants to clean up



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Turkeys may use ants to clean up

http://www.pennlive.com/columns/pat...?/base/columnists/1122110567248340.xml&coll=1

Clouds of dust flew in every direction as the turkey gobbler lifted its mass from the top of the three-foot-tall ant hill on the crest of Broad Mountain, overlooking Locust Lake State Park in Schuylkill County. For a second or two the forest floor sounded as if rain was falling, as a thousand tiny particles of dirt rained down onto the dried leaves.

The ant hill, the work of several years by thousands of Allegheny mound builder ants, was left a wreck. A bowl, the shape of a turkey's underside, had been cut deep into the soft soil of the mound. Bits of the ants' labors covered the surrounding forest floor. Worker ants scurried over the wound, some looking for the assaulting enemy and others beginning reconstruction efforts. 

I've seen other mounds similarly damaged throughout the midstate over the years, but I've never been able to pinpoint the turkey's specific goal in using mounds.

Perhaps it was simple dusting. Like nearly all birds, turkeys take dust baths as part of their overall regimen of feather care. 

While it may not seem so, bathing in dust can remove a great deal of animal oils, itchy bits of old skin and sticky plant juices from a bird's feathers. Each particle of dust worked under the feathers can absorb a small amount of unwanted material and then be easily shaken away from the body. 

Or maybe the big birds are doing something known as anting, an activity that's been observed in more than 250 species of birds, including our wild turkey. 

In active anting, the bird picks up an ant in its beak and rubs the insects along its feathers, particularly the large flight feathers. Birds have been observed doing the same with many other objects, including mothballs, matches and fruit peels. 

In passive anting, also called ant bathing, the bird lies down among the ants on an ant hill or mound. 

The reason for anting remains a subject of study. The birds often have been described as growing very excited during the process. Some researchers have theorized that the ants, which excrete formic acid, somehow help the bird to rid itself of mites, lice, fungus, bacteria and other parasites. Others believe anting to be nothing more than a way for the bird to get the ants to empty themselves of most of their acid before eating them. 

The quick quiz: 

1. Could caudipteryx, a small, feathered dinosaur that lived 120 million to 136 million years ago, and archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, which lived 150 million years ago, have anted? 

2. Guess how many feathers an adult wild turkey has.

3. True or false? There are more than 4,500 species of ants. 

Answers: 1. Primitive and more advanced fossil ants have been found in 92-million-year-old amber, and scientists have speculated that the origin of ants dates to the Lower Cretaceous, which was about 130 million years ago. If that is true, caudipteryx may have anted, while archaeopteryx may not have had the opportunity. 

2. According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, an adult turkey has 5,000 to 6,000 feathers arranged in patterns called tracts. 

3. True. And, many more probably have not yet been discovered. 

Homework: 

Spread a small amount of grape jelly on your arm or leg. Rub a handful of dry dirt or sand into the jelly and then off your skin. This gives you some idea of how a dust bath works for a bird. Testing anting on yourself would not be as much fun. 

MARCUS SCHNECK: (610) 562-1884 or [email protected]. Schneck's outdoor writing also appears Wednesdays and Sundays in the Sports section, Sundays in the Travel section and regularly at www.pennlive.com.


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## One Eye (Sep 10, 2000)

Hamilton Reef said:


> Homework:
> 
> Spread a small amount of grape jelly on your arm or leg. Rub a handful of dry dirt or sand into the jelly and then off your skin. This gives you some idea of how a dust bath works for a bird. Testing anting on yourself would not be as much fun.
> 
> MARCUS SCHNECK: (610) 562-1884 or [email protected]. Schneck's outdoor writing also appears Wednesdays and Sundays in the Sports section, Sundays in the Travel section and regularly at www.pennlive.com.


And kids, *DO NOT *  try this at home. We are professionals! :yikes: :yikes: 

Dan


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Did you notice PA doesn't have fire ants. I can't imagine Florida turkeys hopping onto a fire ant mound.


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## One Eye (Sep 10, 2000)

Yeah, that would would be a sight to see. Couldn't you see some turkey hopping around like they had . . . . . "fire ants in their pants?" :lol: :lol: 

Dan


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