h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks for sharing information and the lovely painting of these creatures. I didn't know that some mongoose species were comummunal--I guess I just thought of Kipling's stories and though of them as predators. Any creature that can deal with those cobras deserves a lot of respect from people.

On another front, here is an adaptation of the small but nasty fire ants that we have in North America where they have invaded.

http://www.livescience.com/13867-raft-fire-ants-buoyancy-flood-water-repellant-floatation.html

It is such a sophisticated adaptation to flooding.

Hi there Elektra! Thanks for the comment and for the link about the ant rafts! Sorry for only getting here now ... I was without net access for a few days. Also this entry doesn't show up on my Uspace ... I wonder why?

Willem, when you get something published in the , it is a good idea to click the button under the item to subscribe to all conversations for this entry. That way it will appear in your convo list automatically and you can respond to the feedback you get on it. I always do that that for D's items (even the cartoons).

Also I have a question. Does South Africa have fire ants? They are a real pest here and seem to be expanding their range.

Hi there Elektra! Well, I do that - the instant I know that I've an entry in The Post, I click the subscribe button. But usually, it shows on my USpace when one of my entries is about to be included in The Post ... it shows up 'empty' for a while but when The Post is out, the whole thing is there. This time this didn't happen! But anyways I went to The Post and saw my entry and did click the subscribe button.

No we don't have Fire Ants in South Africa! What we do have are Argentine Ants, that are invasive here and some threat to native insect and plant species.