Timo's ant colony he made from Tomasina's (cat) food feeder (she doesn't currently need it). Has searched in various locations and soils for ants, but hasn't found any yet. Instead the enclosure has one worm, three slaters and a "hopper" which is basically an insect he found that hops. Have yet to classify what is actually is.
One expedition for ants coincided with a couple from the Regional Council who were just parked at the foot of the driveway, in order to do some tests in the adjacent creek. Science in action! as the guy said. We gave (actually we shouted at) him plenty of questions as he was at work standing in the river with his measuring gear, and found out they do the tests mainly to monitor water quality (basically the amount of cow poo in the river), and what kinds of bacteria that consists of (forget but definitely the coli's) and other physical, biological and chemical characteristics... he assures us it's perfectly safe for swimming where we are - good news! Results on their website.