I know it’s generally preferred that scientists take a detached and dispassionate approach to their subjects so as not to skew their studies or experimental data, but I rather think that even entomologists should show a little respect for their subjects. But kids will be kids. Also, I happen to know from my own youth that if you let on that you find something creepy or gross, it’s pretty much guaranteed that some other child will eventually figure out how to use it to torture you. Kids are charming that way.
Art-Colored Glasses 
they look like madagascar hissing cockroaches. my parents entomologist friend gave me one for a pet. i loved him and named him Barney Fife. He never hissed at me.
Yep, I think they *were* the insects in question. There’s a beautiful entomological collection, live and otherwise, at the Alberta provincial museum in Edmonton that I loved visiting when I got the chances. But I’ll bet they never had any with as cool a name as Barney Fife! How delightful. Of *course* he wouldn’t hiss at someone who loved him. 🙂
Oh so true:):) Happy Wednesday.xxx
😉
Yuk
Just as it’s said that you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, I do think you can’t make a creepy-crawly insect story without squishing a few bugs. Ewww! 😉
Yup. Kids can be so mean sometimes.
Love the cute pets you have there. … 😉
I’m guessing you haven’t encountered too many critters of the same scale as these guys in your work, but I’ll bet you’ve seen some amazing ones, too!!!
There are some creatures I prefer remain far from my line of sight, at least until I have consumed my morning coffee. Your little friends jumped started my heart! Well, forget coffee; I have enough adrenaline going to see me through the day. Love it!
Whoops, I didn’t mean to disturb you. Well, not *too* much!! 😉 I’m glad you got a kick out of it, even if there was a slight kick-*start* involved.
One advantage of etymology over entomology is that it’s usually free of yukkiness. On the other hand, if you turn over a decaying log you’re not likely to find any words lurking there.
Oh, you know better than anyone else I know that endless words lurk pretty much *everywhere*!!! Words like “yukkiness,” which is pretty danged yummy in my opinion.
“Yukkiness” as a word may be yummy, but the subject of the yukkiness will probably strike me as anything but yummy.
Can’t argue with you *there*!
Sorry, but most bugs creep me out. I don’t seek them out with an intent to destroy, but even though it would be quicker and easier to smoosh them when they unknowingly cross paths with me, I’ve been known to relocate them, rather than obliterate them. Which means that sometimes spiny legs or waving whiskers touch my hands, and I get all squirmy inside. Yeechhhhh.
I find them wonderfully fascinating and even beautiful, but I don’t like touching them either. 😀 All from a nice, safe distance, pleaseandthankyou!
Cute poem, K, and I have to confess that if these are cockroaches, which they resemble, I’d prefer them to be anywhere but near me and that goes for spiders, too! 🙂 Your thoughts were very compassionate though and you’re right, kids will be kids! 🙂 ♥
In spite of all the dire warnings about the potential for meeting Insects of Unusual Size once I moved to Texas, I’ve seen very few indeed, and certainly nothing like these roaches. I think these guys were Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, and they were living a privileged life of well-tended captivity in a museum in Edmonton, so I could enjoy watching their wanderings from the other side of the glass with impunity. 😀
xoxo