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The Invasion of Creepy Crawlers!
(Warning: This post might make you want to itch your scalp!)
Fuzzy caterpillars are a favorite for our children to scoop up, contain in bug bottles to observe and sketch. These hairy little creepers don't usually invite fear or trepidation as spiders and other creepers do for those who invite them in for observation. These creepers instead are usually defined as sweet and attractive to some.
Getting up close and so much more personal can easily allow for admiration and awe of the natural beauty of the invertebrate world. Come on, let's just go ahead and admit these "creatures" are incredibly fascinating, tremendously colorful and very unique in the creepy crawler world.
Take a look at the photo below, magnified just a bit from the original photo above and you'll easily agree with this statement. Just look at his fuzzy offerings!
Somewhere along the line here on our property, multitudes of various creepy crawlers have become a negative thing for our young daughter, so "creeped out" with the population multiplying to incredible amounts.
I've already featured one type of resident "tent caterpillar" during one of these "Fun with Nature" posts before, which you can read about by clicking HERE.
Millipedes are another super fascinating creeper, so many legs on these creatures!
They are fascinating to me, but to one of my younguns, well let's just say they are okay until her mother gets all giddy and excited, picks one up to handle it, and then subsequently begin to allow a free reign run up and down my arm. This fast becomes.... "oh so gross and ever so creepy yuckie" to our young daughter. Guess I can hardly blame her, but still.
Until such a time as this scenario, our children are eager to explore and discover new creepers. They just don't want to "touch" them. All of our children are such good sports, but afterward when I begin to display my sense of irrational play with the wee fellows, well then, not so much.
Several multi-legged millipedes are currently attempting to reside in our garage and along doorway areas. Winter is fast approaching, naturally they are seeking shelter from the harsh weather up ahead, nature's instinct no doubt.
But, but, but...it's MY house! Please just go away! :)
I think millipede above saw me coming to take a photo because he appears to be in some sort of defense mode above. :)
In the photo below he looks as though he's sunbathing on the warm rocks. Maybe not.
And then again, here's what we found in the same location the following day. (see below)
Millipede discovery - ewwww.... When we were beginning to find less and less creepy crawler millipedes hovering nearby, something happened, seemingly quite abruptly.
Like the snap of a finger, it seemed we suddenly became "invaded" with these little creepers below. There are hugely abundant in numbers, creeping on the floors throughout my garage, and I mean - everywhere! I need your help for this part. We have yet to identify these things! If you know, please tell me...and fast!
Twice each week I've had to sweep the garage out and keep the dogs from eating them, followed by scooping up limp remains of those little fellows who chose to slither down the basement staircase in the garage only to meet their doom on the concrete at the bottom near the door.
How lovely to open up the door and not have anywhere to step out, especially one of the children who don't remember to wear shoes out there.
Do your children forget they are only in their socks whilst heading for a quick romp in your garage?
Due to the incredible amounts of creepy creatures working their way about the garage and staircase, no more are our children doing this, slip-on shoes lay scattered and ready to wear near doorways now.
Observing the dustpan above and below makes my tummy feel a bit queasy. Anyone need fishing bait? ewwww...
For all the ones resting in my dustpan soon to head out the door into the forest beyond the rockway, just as many somehow entered our basement. True story.
We are finding them laying dead in the strangest places, stranded no doubt following one another into the bliss of doom. They don't climb up walls, only remain on the flooring. Our young daughter is not a happy girl these days, scratching and hugging herself with just the quickest thought of them nearby. sigh....
But, can you really blame her? ewwwwww......
Let me invite you to take one last looky-look at the photo above.
Just as in those "Where's Waldo" books, can you see the millipedes blending in the fold, and the the big huge spider there hidden amongst them? This particular spider is still alive but he's heading OUT the door with the rest! Right now!
And this my friends is just another adventure of our current life in the country, living in the "east" and trying to shed our city slicker behaviors at the best of time. I suppose we will get used to all the newness of those creepers around us while living here, at least let's hope so.
Our biggest problem is developing a successful idea for refusing them entry into the garage in the first place. Our local nursery suggested using baited sticky papers, those which are used for mice. Problem, it has also attracted spiders, crickets, flies, and assorted creepers galore! Yikes, how gross! Solutions are always welcomed once these fellows enter en masse, this seems to be a temporary solution to our problem. Let's hope they seize their hunt for our garage entry soon.
Not the best solution, though a solution thus far. Thousands of these creepers are crawling in from outside seeking shelter. Know what they are? Please feel free to let me know..... with thanks.
