Ant Fact of the Day:

"Ant Garnets" are tiny red gems found by ants. I know this sounds made up ... but it's real.

Harvester ants dig deep nests (up to 6m!) and they bring the soil to the surface grain by grain. Sometimes they find garnets, tiny precious red gemstones.

These are waste to the ants: they end up in the spoil heap around the nest. When it rains, the lighter stone washes away, the garnets from deep in the earth remain.

Those in the know can collect them from the surface.