I Should Have Died in Childhood...
Seriously. Tonight a female dobsonfly got into our kitchen and was then chewed on by one of the mutts and left on the floor to die. In any event I picked it up and was admiring how amazing a creature it was when I decided to go look up what it was... Keep in mind I've played with these 5 inch long insects before, mostly when I was a wee one. Fearless.
So a few hours later I found out that female dobson flies are "capable of drawing blood on humans with their sharp mandibles." Then I found a bunch of people holding them in precarious positions to avoid their chompers. Funny, I've never been bitten...
Well anyway, I decided to look up some of the other bugs I remember collecting as a child. I seemed to be drawn to little critters that packed a punch. Wolf spiders were my favorite. I had a lot of those in baby jars at one point, feeding them flies... Apparently if you're allergic to their bites they can kill you... and more people are allergic to spider bites then other insects.
Then I found the oil beetles... a charming little creature that oozes toxin out of it's leg joints that causes blisters and painful rashes. Well, that could explain why I was always coming home with weird rashes... I remember collecting those things by the handful one summer, and vividly remember the orange goo they were constanly dripping all over the place...
AH fond memories of childhood!
So a few hours later I found out that female dobson flies are "capable of drawing blood on humans with their sharp mandibles." Then I found a bunch of people holding them in precarious positions to avoid their chompers. Funny, I've never been bitten...
Well anyway, I decided to look up some of the other bugs I remember collecting as a child. I seemed to be drawn to little critters that packed a punch. Wolf spiders were my favorite. I had a lot of those in baby jars at one point, feeding them flies... Apparently if you're allergic to their bites they can kill you... and more people are allergic to spider bites then other insects.
Then I found the oil beetles... a charming little creature that oozes toxin out of it's leg joints that causes blisters and painful rashes. Well, that could explain why I was always coming home with weird rashes... I remember collecting those things by the handful one summer, and vividly remember the orange goo they were constanly dripping all over the place...
AH fond memories of childhood!