Texas Redistricting
23 October 2003, 9:17 PM

Creepy Critters
23 October 2003, 2:13 PM

Scorpions freak me out.

Mind you, I have no problem with wasps, bees, spiders, snakes and a host of other critters that tend to really freak other people, so it's not a buggy sort of thing. For the most part insects fascinated my sister and I, and when we were little it earned big points with the boys in the neighborhood when we didn't squeal or scream or run away at the site of "gross bugs".

When I was 6 years old an entomologist came to my elementary school and showed off a number of bugs. I was fascinated, and held a tarantula in my palm very carefully, while he explained about many of the other bugs. maybe that fascinating experience had something to do with it. Or maybe it was that most of the bugs we came across were beautiful or complex in some way. I still remember my first glimpse of an 8 inch Luna Moth that landed on the side of the apartment complex we were living in at the time. It was quite a sight to 9 year old eyes.

My family made a cross country drive from Texas to New York when I was I was eight and at every rest stop my sister and I would run around in the grass at the and stir up the grasshoppers so that we could catch them. I usually had no problem finding numerous bugs to put in insect collections for my high school science class. Some bugs have made my acquaintance in person only relatively recently - like the praying mantis. I hadn't ever seen one of those in the wild until my folks moved farther out from the suburbs. Lightening bugs also made their magical appearance as I moved farther out of the major metropolis.

Spiders weren't always one of my favorite bugs, but I've grown to really like them. Watching an orb-weaving spider do her thing is just mesmerizing and early this Fall we had three of the spinsters outside the house. We would watch from a window as "araneas cavaticus" would drop from a long thread and attach spokes, then crawl around in circles, spinning and attaching the silk threads. Watching a tarantula run away with all four front legs waving about madly takes a bite out of their mysterious and creepy horror-movie reputation. (Jeff and his sister had a pet tarantula when they were little. Daddy-O eventually went to a Hollywood movie group and probably made a few movie appearances.)

I always saw bees as a sort of friendly stinging insect. I gave them wide berth, but I liked having them around and figured that they at least made up for any bad behavior by providing an awesome apology - honey. Bumble-bees were a rare treat to see, so fat, fuzzy and lazily swooping around flowers. Mud-daubers and even yellow-jackets were just free-loaders that didn't bother me if I didn't bother them.

Wasps on the other hand, I've always thought us as the mean and nasty brutes of the flying insect world. I don't know why I dislike them so much. Maybe it's because they're so aggressive. I've had wasps chase me across a yard, tangling in my hair, and the numerous stings my parents have received have all been from wasps. I haven't been stung yet, but I've retaliated against hives for the mere thought of stinging me or a loved one with unadulterated genocide. (Raid - it's the only wasp spray that works worth a darn.)

Despite my dislike for wasps, they don't scare me or freak me out. I'll try to brush one away, or I'll go after it to squash or spray it. Either way, I figure getting stung eventually will just be the price of that battle I wage. There's no lingering creepiness factor after I've dealt with them.