suicidal electrocuted ants
Discussion
I left my laptop charger cable out on the workbench this morning,still turned on.
when I returned about 5 hours latter there were about 40 dead ants all round the exposed laptop plug,sort of curled up but none closer than an inch.
I thought it was strange and observed another ant come along,divert from its original path straight towards the plug,act strange for a few seconds then just stand still for a minute or so and then keel over.
Any bods know why,firstly it attracts and charms them and secondly why it kills them?
when I returned about 5 hours latter there were about 40 dead ants all round the exposed laptop plug,sort of curled up but none closer than an inch.
I thought it was strange and observed another ant come along,divert from its original path straight towards the plug,act strange for a few seconds then just stand still for a minute or so and then keel over.
Any bods know why,firstly it attracts and charms them and secondly why it kills them?
I had a similar experice with one of those tall, double oven units, the kind that lives in a single, high kitchen unit. The circuit breaker kept tripping repeatedly for reasons unknown.
We'd had a problem with meeces and when I opened up the back of the cooker, I found out why the breaker kept going out. There were seven mice, arranged roughly in the shape of a question mark. Each one had its nose blasted away and all had no feet - the ends of their legs were welded to the (earthed) baseplate.
So why did they keep arriving, sniffing their colleagues' bums and getting buzzed? No idea.
A clean up and perforated zinc sheeting up the back of the stack sorted it out.
We'd had a problem with meeces and when I opened up the back of the cooker, I found out why the breaker kept going out. There were seven mice, arranged roughly in the shape of a question mark. Each one had its nose blasted away and all had no feet - the ends of their legs were welded to the (earthed) baseplate.
So why did they keep arriving, sniffing their colleagues' bums and getting buzzed? No idea.
A clean up and perforated zinc sheeting up the back of the stack sorted it out.
A couple of things to add
We once had a bloke wheel a cooker back into the store, as ot had been delivered with a mouse trapped behind the dial for one of the rings. It had died looking out the "window"
IIRC rabbits are attracted to magnetic fields from cables?
And don't sharks sense magnetic fields?
So I guess it's possible
We once had a bloke wheel a cooker back into the store, as ot had been delivered with a mouse trapped behind the dial for one of the rings. It had died looking out the "window"
IIRC rabbits are attracted to magnetic fields from cables?
And don't sharks sense magnetic fields?
So I guess it's possible
Dudley guy,Thanks i read your link,
Its interesting that no one still knows why ants are attracted to electricity,
The strange thing is that even though there is only 2-500 ma there and,I assume that is enough to kill an ant by actual electric shock,they did not appear to actually touch it,certainly the one I witnessed didn`t.
None were any closer than an inch.
Its interesting that no one still knows why ants are attracted to electricity,
The strange thing is that even though there is only 2-500 ma there and,I assume that is enough to kill an ant by actual electric shock,they did not appear to actually touch it,certainly the one I witnessed didn`t.
None were any closer than an inch.
davhill said:
We'd had a problem with meeces and when I opened up the back of the cooker, I found out why the breaker kept going out. There were seven mice, arranged roughly in the shape of a question mark. Each one had its nose blasted away and all had no feet - the ends of their legs were welded to the (earthed) baseplate.
I'd hazard a guess that the 'meeces don't know the answer either.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff