If this isn’t mundane and pointless I don’t know what is.
I threw something in the dumpster at work today and something brushed past my arm and landed just inside the dumpster. I was at first creeped out by the thought that a bug had touched me and then I saw it was a walking stick. I didn’t even know they could fly. Well, I didn’t want to close the dumpster on it so I left the lid open, later I threw something else out and it was still there. I really wanted to shut the lid and I didn’t want to try and shoo him away and have him fly further into the dumpster so I decided to do something I haven’t done since I was a kid, touch a bug on purpose.
As a kid I used to handle walking sticks, praying mantises (mantii?), lightning bugs, ladybugs, june bugs … heck I handled just about any bug except for roaches, wasps, bees and spiders (don’t get technical). When I grew up I got too girly and I had too many encounters with the creepy bugs. I stopped even thinking of touching any of those things on purpose. Well, I worked up my courage and put my finger in front of the walking stick and moved it closer to the bug so it crawled onto my finger. I could barely feel it on me and it didn’t even try to chew off my finger. I looked at it for a few moments and it did not fly at my face and attack me. I set it down on a piece of wood near the dumpster and walked away. I had survived my close encounter.
It was kind of fun, it took me back to when I was a kid. I was amazed that this thing did not fear me, it even seemed to trust me. It was kind of cool. Maybe I’ll touch a bug on purpose again someday … well, I will still squash the roaches and run away from the wasps, bees and spiders.
Anyone else have any nice encounters with bugs (that don’t involve the bug encountering your shoe)?
Be proud, Tiramisu. Littlecats and I like to look at bugs together, but she hasn’t hit the girly girl stage, yet. She understands that most varieties are quite cool, and the remainder are of the don’t go there group. Perhaps it is owing to all of the rain around here, but spiders are out in droves-big old fat spiders-six foot gossamer webs that look sooo beautiful in the morning dew. For me, a real treat is one of those huge moths-the ones about the size of a finch. Gorgeous creatures.
I’m not squeamish about bugs in general, and have picked up praying mantids and large spiders, and this summer even learned how to hold a cicada to carry it outside (you pinch the wings together lightly).
But there is one insect encounter from several years ago I still remember for its niceness: I was going in to work one morning, at just about dawn, and as I was walking from the parking lot toward the building, I saw a luna moth (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/moths/usa/942.htm) sitting on the concrete walk ahead of me, lovely and luminously pale green in the light. I’d never seen one in real life before; I didn’t even know at the time that they were in this part of the U.S!
I didn’t want it to get stepped on, so I crouched down and put one hand down in front of it. It very sweetly and trustingly walked right into the palm of my hand–its wingspan covered my hand. I carried it over to the bushes on the side of the walkway, and with a little gentle nudging, it walked off onto the nearest branch, where I left it.
We’ve got a really cool garden spider out back (it’s an inch or so long, it looks like). I semi-adopted it as my pet, since it stuck around in the same place so long. When I could, I would catch little bugs and throw them into the web and watch him eat them. The other day, though, I kinda drove him out. I guess I bugged him too much. The next day, the web was all gone, and there was no sign of the spider. Luckily, I later found him near another part of the house. Unluckily, it rained so damn much yesterday his new web was completely obliterated. I didn’t see any place where the poor thing could’ve taken up shelter, so I resigned myself to the depressing possibility that I created a homeless (and possibly drowned) spider.
But I just checked this morning, now that everything’s nice and dry, and he’s back with a big beautiful web and a neighbor! I won’t pester them as much anymore, lest I drive them completely out of my yard.
Oh, and I pet bumblebees too, while they’re climbing around on our sunflowers. The only stinging insect I’ll willingly touch.