here, that would be an ant's nest.

Sand pit trap of an antlion? (scroll down to bottom of page on link)

Here is a link that might be useful: Antlion on Wikipedia

Maybe. No ants visible, nor can I see a whole in the bottom. I will poke it with a stick and see what comes out. No doubt it is insects of some kind...

more specifically .. the ant lion ...

he is a predator ... and he is sitting right down there in teh bottom ...

i taught the kids to twitch a blade of grass around the side.. and sometimes.. you get him to jump out .. not often.. but once in a while ..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: check out the images side ..

Maybe it is an ant lion trap. Gently stroke around the middle of the funnel with a blade of grass, knocking some grains of sand down into the center and wait to see if there is movement in the center. If it is an ant lion he will think an ant is walking into his trap and will kick to try to make the ant tumble down to the center where he can grab him and eat him. Can you tell that this was a favorite past time as a child???

how old are you frankie.. i hope i dont have kids around.. i am not aware of... lol ...

ken

As kids we used to try to dig the antlion out from the bottom of the pit or to try to lure one out by simulating prey-- never actually got one, but we were probably not clever enough. The Wikipedia article says the the larva's jaws may protrude at the bottom of the pit, so a careful look before disturbance might work.