Written & partially illustrated by: Laurie Trotman

Timmy the ant lives under the ground with thousands of sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and his mother, Queen Sally.

An anthill is the result of many ants digging tunnels in the ground and carrying the soil back up to the surface. Most ants don’t mind doing this, but Timmy has a dream about being a famous explorer.

He is always looking for something new and exciting to explore. Today was no different, in Timmy’s world. All the other ants were busy digging, or doing what ants do, but Timmy was going on an adventure.

Last week, he went skydiving with his friend Dante. Today, Dante’s older brother, Fenix, was taking Timmy spelunking!

What is spelunking, you may ask? Well, spelunking is when you explore natural caves that have amazing formations in them.

Now some may think that tunnels and caves are all the same, but even though there are some similarities, they are also VERY different. Fenix had told Timmy that the caves they were going to visit today, were VERY different from ant tunnels. Timmy was very excited to explore these differences with Fenix.

Fenix arrived at the anthill after breakfast on Saturday morning. He had a helmet and backpack on. Lolly, Fenix’s grandmother, had made a special place on Fenix’s helmet where Timmy could ride safely.

The helmet also had a light on it so that they could see into dark places inside the caves.

Fenix picked up Timmy and helped him onto his helmet. Then he got onto his bike and started riding it to the nearby cave.

When they arrived at the cave, Fenix locked up his bike and walked to the cave entrance.

He also explained to Timmy that this cave was called a cavern and that there would be surprises inside!

Fenix turned on his helmet light and walked into the cave. To Timmy’s surprise, he saw that the cave had lights inside and it wasn’t dark at all.

“Why are there lights inside? I thought it was going to be dark,” Timmy asked Fenix.

“Well, Timmy, this is a cave that has already been explored and now they let people inside to tour through it,” Fenix explained. “My helmet light is so that we can see into some of the darker areas that do not have lights.”

As they walked, they saw some things hanging from the top of the cave. Fenix pointed to them and told Timmy that they were called ‘stalactites.’ He then explained that water drips down from the above-ground collecting minerals and they slowly create these formations hanging ‘tightly’ to the cave ceiling.

“Wow, look over there!” Timmy exclaimed, pointing at some other stalactites that looked blue. “Those stalactites are blue and are coming up out of the ground. They are in the water, too!”

“Well, actually Timmy, they look blue because there are blue lights in the water. Also, the ones coming up from the bottom of the water, and the ones over there coming up from the ground are called ‘stalagmites’ and not stalactites,” Fenix explained.

Timmy was confused as they looked similar but some were hanging and some seemed to be growing upwards. “What’s the difference, Fenix?”

“Well, Pops told me that the easiest way to remember the difference is this way: Stalactites hang tightly to the ceiling (‘tites’ hang tightly); Stalagmites are mounds on the ground (‘mites’ are mounds on the ground),” Fenix answered.

Pops was Fenix’s grandpa and always had fun ways to help Fenix remember things. Then, Fenix continued to say, “When the water and minerals continue to drip from the stalactites, they start forming the mounds on the ground.”

“Wow, our tunnels are nothing like the tunnels in these caves!” Timmy said. “I can’t wait to tell my cousin, Sparky, all about this place!”

“Did you know that these caverns were formed millions of years ago?” Fenix asked Timmy.

“You’re kidding me, aren’t you?” Timmy smiled.

“No! Really, Timmy. They weren’t discovered until a couple of hundred years ago, but they have been forming for millions of years. I read about this in school!”

“That’s amazing!” Timmy said in disbelief. “I wonder if there are any ant tunnels that are that old?”

“Probably not; but ants have been digging tunnels and creating colonies for thousands of years, and probably longer than humans have been around!” This information also surprised Timmy, but Fenix had started walking again. “I guess it is time to go back home now, Timmy.”

Fenix walked back to the cave opening. “This sure was an amazing exploration day, Fenix. Thank you very much for taking me here. You sure do know a lot about caverns!” Timmy said to Fenix.

“Thanks, Timmy, and you’re welcome. I enjoyed showing it to you and I always enjoy spelunking! Did I tell you that exploring caves is called spelunking? Isn’t that a funny word?” Fenix said laughing.

Timmy laughed at the word, too. When they got to the cave entrance, Fenix turned off his helmet light and walked to his bike. He unlocked his bike and they started home.

When they got to Timmy’s anthill, Timmy climbed out of the special space on Fenix’s helmet onto Fenix’s hand. Fenix lowered him to the ground and waved goodbye.

Timmy tipped his hat towards Fenix and then started towards his anthill. Timmy was thinking about all of the new things he learned today as he crawled down the tunnel. He thought that this would be amazing information to share on Monday at school. Won’t Mr. Eaglebud, his teacher, be amazed at all of this new information? Timmy knew that he would be!