It’s that time of year again.
Ants are coming here again.
Ants and their presence appear by the score.
I sure hope they stay outside the door.
Every year, the ants and I have a battle. They try to invade my kitchen, and I try to keep them out. There are no Rules of Warfare, no Geneva Convention, so I regularly use chemical warfare. They are not an enemy that can ever be completely exterminated, but I can push them back. Here is a Ballad of our War.
The ants go marching one-by-one, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching one-by-one, Hurrah.
The ants go marching one-by-one, the little one spied some chewing gum.
And they all go marching down into the ground, get away from the Raid.
The ants go marching two-by-two, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching two-by-two, Hurrah.
The ants go marching two-by-two, the little one asked for more gum to chew.
And they all go marching down into the ground, to hide from the can of Raid.
The ants go marching three-by-three, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching three-by-three, Hurrah.
The ants go marching three-by-three, “Is that the sugar bowl I see?”
And the all go marching down into the bowl, get some sugar, go on their way.
The ants go marching four-by-four, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching four-by-four, Hurrah.
The ants go marching four-by-four, they found the brown sugar and took some more,
And they all go marching down around the bowl and come back again.
The ants go marching five-by-five, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching five-by-five, Hurrah.
The ants go marching five-by-five, and then they spy the honey from the hive,
And they all go marching back to call all their friends.
The ants go marching six-by-six, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching six-by-six, Hurrah.
The ants go marching six-by-six, they find the candy jar and the Pixie sticks,
And they all go marching around with a big grin.
The ants go marching seven-by-seven, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching seven-by-seven, Hurrah.
The ants go marching seven-by-seven, they find the sweetened cereal, and think their in heaven,
And they all have a party and invite all their friends.
The ants go marching eight-by-eight, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching eight-by-eight, Hurrah.
The ants go marching eight-by-eight, I spy them and decide to lay in wait.
And they all go marching down into the ground, and I get out my bait.
The ants go marching nine-by-nine, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching nine-by-nine, Hurrah.
The ants go marching nine-by-nine, I think this might be the last time,
And they all scurry down with a piece of my bait.
The ants go marching ten-by-ten, Hurrah, Hurrah.
The ants go marching ten-by-ten, Hurrah.
The ants go marching ten-by-ten, but this is where my rhyme ends,
So add a verse to help me out my friends.
…
But before you leave. Let me give you a few factoids about antoids!
Have you every wondered how many ants there are in the world? I found this answer here. http://www.live-ants.com/facts-about-ants.html
“Scientists estimate that there are one quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) ants living on the earth at any given time.”
I guess that means we won’t be waving any peace flags any time soon. This ant blog has many interesting questions, photos, and facts about ants.
And lastly, if you would like to purchase an ant farm or read a funny Aunt/ant picture book, click on the blue links.
Enjoy your day!
Sending lot’s-a love your way!
–rebecca
Don’t forget to add another verse to my very original and uniquely mine Ant Ballad. Hurrah! Hurrah! There may or may not be a prize. I may or may not keep the Give-Away for myself.
My Whit's End 
Can’t come up with a cute ending to your cute poem, but highly recommend an old favorite of our family by Alan and Joyce Root. It first came as a film and I believe now can be purchased online in DVD form. It is called “Castles of Clay”. We watched it many times and never tired of it. These were termite hills in Africa.
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I keep meaning to get this DVD!! Thanks again for the reminder.
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The ants go marching eleven-teen by eleven-teen, hurrah, hurrah.
The ants go marching eleven-teen by eleven-teen, if they eat anymore, they’ll need a new spleen.
And they all go marching over, to MY lawn, and eat what the grubs left them to glean.
Junior insists eleven-teen comes after 10. She’s being educated in french. We’ll have to cut her some slack.
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We will give her some slack because she is so cute. We will give her some slack because eleven-teen makes perfect sense. We will give her some slack because she just had a birthday.!!!
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The ants go marching twelve by twelve, hurrah, hurrah,
The ants go marching twelve by twelve, hurrah
The ants go marching twelve by twelve, in Australia they sure know how to dig and delve
(but at least we don’t have those flesh-eating ants described in Out of Africa which I finally got around to reading last week and enjoyed immensely). Soldier on!
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Love it! Love the dig and delve part. Great job from Down Under!
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The ants go marching ten by ten, without a clue of the place they are in,
Mom’s kitchen and King’s palaces are not their second home.
( I think it should end with ten, even if it is to a different beat ) I wonder if Mary Jane remembers an ant in her kitchen story ( I have been around way too much )
Blessings to all the Whitaker’s and anyone who has read this far
Kathy
June 5
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
( our “calling” )
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Good reference to the Seven Small but Wise Critters!
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The ants go marching thirteen by thirteen, hurrah, hurrah
the ants go marching thirteen by thirteen, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching thirteen by thirteen,
My can of raid goes on squirting and squirting
and they all die slowly, on my counter, by the sugar. Ugh.
God bless your day!
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High poetry indeed!!! Love it!
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Noticed a scraggly line of about 10 ants near the back door recently so got some little black boxes they are supposed to enter and eat some poison to take back to their “hill”…. Squished most of them and watched where they were coming out and in… a skinny slit by the back door, and sprayed the area. Thought they were all gone by the next day, but 3 days later, the floor showed some movement so left the little black boxes there and now haven’t seen any for several days. Are the all gone??? Who knows!! Not my favorite poem….. 🙂
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Hail! to the Victors valiant Hail! to the conquering heros! Hail! Hail! to Mrs. Bel the Ant Exterminator of the West! (A little of the Michigan Fight Song may have come out there.)
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