So I'm minding my own business ...

[kenny]

I remember I caught a scorpion about 20 years ago when I lived out in the country.
I kept it in an aquarium full of local sand/dirt/plants for a couple weeks and fed it little crawling things, like crickets I caught.

It had a 'face' that was flat on the front with two door-like mandibles that opened.
With its claws it would hold its prey against that part of it's head, open its mandibles and munch away.
Poor cricket; Lucky scorpion.
Just like, poor cow; Lucky Kenny

Horrifying, but that's nature for ya.
I let it go when I was 'done' observing it.

I love nature, the cute and the creepy.

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

Another great thread Kenny. Good bye little bugs. So Kenny do you still have your shrimpies?

 

[momhappy]

^Yes, I suppose you're right, House Cat. Probably best to flush them. One of my kids is a big nature-lover, so we've always got some sort of critter around (bugs, caterpillars, slugs, frogs, etc.). Last weekend, she caught 6 frogs, 1 tree frog, 2 leopard slugs, and a salamander

She sounds like a kid after my own heart!! You sound like you have some amazing wildlife around you!! You're a good mom for being so tolerant. I was always made to throw out my "pets" due to the creepiness factor. I guess spiders aren't so cuddly to those who have a phobia.

Yes, I love that she's into all that stuff. She has the whole crew in a terrarium right now and I went out yesterday and bought some crickets. We will probably let everybody go today except maybe the salamander because he's the most friendly. Although, the sales associate at PetCo told me to make sure that she washes her hands each time after touching the salamander because they are major carriers of salmonella.

 

[missy]

Wow I thought all babies were cute but I see I am mistaken LOL.
What are you going to do with these babies Kenny?

Yeah, a face only the mother could love. Right?

If you think they look gross in a still pic you should see them slithering around.
Kinda reminds me of a scene from a B horror film where maggots are seething around feeding a body.

I intended to let them go right after hatching, but probably not now that I've read a bit about them.
They are an unwanted pest to not only agriculture but also to home gardens.

http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug :
This true bug in the insect family Pentatomidae is known as an agricultural pest in its native range of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Recently, the BMSB has become a serious pests of fruit, vegetables and farm crops in the Mid-Atlantic region and it is probable that it will become a pest of these commodities in other areas in the United States.

Mean and immoral as it may be, I think I'm going to give them the old porcelain funeral.

I feel a bit bad, 'using' them and all but I could also see it as educational or satisfying my great curiosity about things.
They've been an interesting little project, not to mention grist for our Hangout mill.
Who knows, maybe a parent showed this thread to their kids.
Maybe people will inspect their leafy produce more closely.

... Hey, stink bug nymphs might a good Pricescope Avatar.

I would give them the "porcelain" funeral too Kenny. I don't think it is immoral though I admit a part of me feels badly for them I agree with you. They are pests and can cause damage so that would be the way I would go. Though I can see why you might feel a bit sad. You are sort of their parent in a way now that you watched them hatch from their eggs.

 

[arkieb1]

At least a heap of mutant spiders didn't come crawling out.

 

[WinkHPD]

I don't believe that all stink bugs are considered pests (in terms of gardens & agriculture) because some of them feed on bugs (like aphids for example) that are damaging to plants, which could make them useful. Is there any way to tell what kind of stink bugs they actually are before throwing them in the toilet?
I'm the kind of person that takes bugs & spiders outside (as opposed to killing them) when I find them in my house - unless it's a giant, hairy spider
The pictures are amazing - thanks for sharing them!

I am with the flush em group. If you want to get rid of aphids go to the garden store and buy a container of lady bugs for your garden.

They eat the heck out of lady bugs and they are beautiful.

Die stink bugs, die!

Wink, who has tons of them in his garden

 

[kenny]

Another great thread Kenny. Good bye little bugs. So Kenny do you still have your shrimpies?

Thanks.
OMG, I can't believe Kenny's shrimpie drama was over five years ago. Time flies.
It was funny to look back.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ten-shrimpy-pics.141212/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ten-shrimpy-pics.141212/[/URL]

Yes, after figuring out how to grow infusoria the shrimpies did well and lived out their little shrimpie lives.

I have a large Japonica shrimp now but none of those ghost shrimp I raised are still around now.
They carried on for a few generations without my 'help' but today none remain.
As aquarium-people here know, things turn over in an aquarium.
Five years in fishie time can be several generations.
Plus, the fish grew bigger and that means their mouths grew larger.

 

[kenny]

I would give them the "porcelain" funeral too Kenny. I don't think it is immoral though I admit a part of me feels badly for them I agree with you. They are pests and can cause damage so that would be the way I would go. Though I can see why you might feel a bit sad. You are sort of their parent in a way now that you watched them hatch from their eggs.

Yes, they have been flushed up to that endless parsley forest in the sky.

A moment of silence ....

Hey lady, get ahold of yourself.
They were just some friggin Stink Bugs. Sheesh!

 

[missy]

https://vine.co/v/O2ThjqYDZjn

Your way is definitely more efficient.

 

[lyra]

In my house, they don't even question it when I blurt out "OMG, Kenny's stinkbugs hatched!". Ah well. It was interesting. The eggs were marvelous to look at. The birthing, not so much.

 

[iLander]

The hatching photos reminded me of something . . .

It took a while to figure it out . . .

Oh, yeah! A law school graduation!

Haha, a lawyer joke. I'm sure there will be a bunch of people adding to this thread shortly, Kenny.

 

[sarahb]

Thoe pics you took Kenny were really nice. & so cool you got to experience this. No question I'd also flush.

I also love science weather etc, about the coolest thing I ever witnessed was a lake turtle who crawled into our yard one year & dug a hole, & laid her eggs. The babies even hatched. This happened many years ago, & I can only find a pic of her laying the eggs. I'll have to keep looking for the baby pics, but there were not a ton of them. I think she was mixed up as we live a few blocks from the lake.

 

[kenny]

sarahb, thanks.

Your pic/experience is really awesome!
I'd love to witness wild turtles laying eggs, and seeing them hatch.
If you every find the pics of the turtle babies come back and post them.

Was Mrs. Turtle mad you got so close?

While overall I love where we live, it is in the middle of one of the largest urban areas in the world, a concrete jungle.
At heart I'm a nature-loving guy, so I die a little more every day.
Any time I spot a hawk or a sunrise I'm on the border of tears. Seriously.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Kenny, you mentioned finding a scorpion in your youth. My DH just found one in a light fixture the other day @ work-in LaHabra! Don't have to be in the country anymore.

Glad you flushed those ugly little buggers. yuck.

 

[dragonfly411]

WHY DID I LOOK AT THIS.

Yes. They are stink bug eggs. Have fun! LOL!

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

Another great thread Kenny. Good bye little bugs. So Kenny do you still have your shrimpies?

Thanks.
OMG, I can't believe Kenny's shrimpie drama was over five years ago. Time flies.
It was funny to look back.
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ten-shrimpy-pics.141212/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ten-shrimpy-pics.141212/[/URL]

Yes, after figuring out how to grow infusoria the shrimpies did well and lived out their little shrimpie lives.

I have a large Japonica shrimp now but none of those ghost shrimp I raised are still around now.
They carried on for a few generations without my 'help' but today none remain.
As aquarium-people here know, things turn over in an aquarium.
Five years in fishie time can be several generations.
Plus, the fish grew bigger and that means their mouths grew larger.

Thanks Kenny. That was a great thread. Poor little shrimps. Now im interested in your Japonica shrimp. Off to google image now to take a look. Im guessing you have an aquarium with all sorts off fish.

 

[sarahb]

Kenny, back when this thread was more 'active', I typed out a wonderful detailed description of Mama Turtle, & her behavior. Somehow it got zapped right before I posted. Since it was bedtime, I just thought what the heck & went to bed. I've always meant to come back & respond:

She was very determined & dogged in her goal--nothing was going to deter her. They don't response to stimuli like a dog. What I mean is this: if it bothered her by us being present, it really didn't manifest or appear to me she was bothered. She swung her head over to look, & swung it back to what she was doing, but nothing else--by this I mean her footsteps, or flinching etc.--was displayed.

She found her spot, & started digging with one rear foot, one swipe of dirt at a time. The digging phase took a while. The ground was moist, so she had that going for her. It occurred about 10-15 ft from the wall of the house in the side garden. The area across the street is unbuildable land, with topography/elevation much lower, with some marsh type areas. This is where I think she may have come from originally. Who knows, we're about 2-2.5 blocks from a good sized lake.

She then got her body into position to lay the eggs. Amazing to see. As the eggs dropped out of her, they came like water, quickly & fluidly. They were about ping pong ball sized. In the pic, you can see her rear right leg is lowered somewhat in the hole. & here's what I found fascinating: she'd use her rear flipper to guide the eggs into the hole, by wedging the eggs against the vertical wall of the hole & slowly rolling them down the wall to the bottom. Then back up to get the next group. You can see the next group of eggs waiting the trip down the hole in the pic.

This was the process for a long time. I think she laid 50 eggs? Who knows, maybe more maybe less, but it was A LOT. I kept thinking this has been going on for millions of years. This exact same process & how amazing this animal behavior was to witness.

Then the close: she moved forward a bit & paused, then began to fill the hole, again with her rear flippers, alternating, one swipe at at a time. When she was done, she backed herself forward & backward, tamping the dirt down, repeatedly. And then paused again, then turned around & made her way back towards the street moving very slowly & purposely. I can't remember if we took her to the lake or not. Living in this area you see quite a few lake turtles here & there, & we've moved some back to the lake etc, I just can't remember if we did the same with this one.

I googled gestation...figured out when eggs should hatch & kept watch. Decided we had missed it totally. Then lo & behold, returned from a school drop off one day, pulled into the driveway, only to find baby turtles everywhere. I mean crawling this way & that way--no rhyme nor reason. Who knows where they all went, they had no idea they were so far away from water. Mother nature meant for Mama Turtle to lay the eggs much closer to water, & that part was a tragedy. We did move some of the babies to the lake, but not all. & here's another tragedy, the camera was dead & I couldn't find batteries etc. Those were the days (son was young) when you were lucky to get a shower, charged camera was slightly below brushing teeth on the priority list. I could of kicked myself we missed the photos. Oh well.

And thats the turtle story.

& yes, I LOVE hawks. We have red tailed hawks in the neighborhood/area--in fact all over this side of the state.