INSECTOPIA

A jar with some sand and lots of grass was my idea of an ideal set up to keep grasshoppers and ladybugs. Whenever I went out to the park I would look out for them and pick the ones I thought were the nicest and put them in the jar. I did this daily and soon I had a very colorful collection of ladybugs and a bunch of irate grasshoppers who always tried to escape. It failed to hit me that, maybe these hoppers didn’t like their new home. A few days later my mom advised me not to add more insects to the jar. So I stopped, only to notice on the very same day that there was a hopper in the jar that wasn’t moving. I removed it from the jar and inspected it closely, there was no movement and for once it wasn’t trying to escape. I carried my precious jar downstairs and set all the bugs free, and buried the dead one.

I knew then that I needed to start with a much smaller pet and I saw this red ant climbing the wall. I picked it. I had been warned not to go near them. But really how painful could an ant bite be? I soon discovered and discarded my “prospective” pet in fury.

It was obvious that trying to hold any creature captive without knowing the proper know how would only result in tragedy. I decided instead that I'll just befriend them and set them free after playing with them. I developed a knack for catching roaches. Initially i used to pick them and throw them out. But when i discovered that my brother didn't like them all that much, it gave me cheap thrills to scare him. Holding a cockroach by its antennae and running around the house after my brother bring back fond memories;)

A Lizard's Tail

Curiosity in kids is obvious and I was super curious as a kid. I liked catching bugs, insects and any creepy crawly creature. When I was 3 years old my interests in four legged and some eight-legged creatures was encouraged by my dad. My very first attempts at having a pet failed miserably. I had a fascination for lizards, and so I wanted one as a pet. Having decided that, I had to figure out how I would catch one. I didn’t think I had to consult anyone about trapping lizards so I decided to catch one my own way. So I ran after them, chased them, climbed the furniture trying to reach them but all failed. Then one day I saw this really fat happy looking lizard crawling on the floor and the next instant it was on my palm. Then it began its struggle, so I tried to get a grip on it and held it by the tail and the next thing I know the lizard’s tail was in my hand and the rest of it was escaping. The tail fluttered on my palm with what little life it had in it and then stopped. I didn’t tell anyone about this. ( I pretty much convinced my self of having killed it.) I thought the other remains of the lizard would be found by someone else.

A few days later I thought it was time to ask my dad the exact manner of catching a lizard. He said I could do so by trying to delicately hold it right below its neck. I tried, but I always thought that the lizard would bite me. (!!!) So I resumed my old method of catching them by the tail and well, you can imagine that ours was probably the only house which had lizards without tails for quite some time : )