I have a story to tell.
You may not believe it ...
I was flying around, in my bumbly beetle way, when I collided with a palm frond. Although I bounced off unharmed, my velocity dropped to stall speed and I plummeted towards earth.
Not to worry ... with my extra heavy exoskeleton, crashing to the ground was no big deal.
But ...
... I hadn't planned on water instead of sand. It seems I landed in FC's aquaculture tank!Suddenly my superior beetle exoskeleton was not an advantage, but a heavy disadvantage. I paddled about, but it was getting harder to breathe.
Fatigue was setting in pretty fast.
My whole life passed before my eyes, I saw myself as a grubby little kid, playing dung ball, finding the right mate, ...
A sudden roar of rushing water snapped me out of my near death trance ... I raised my tired head and glanced towards the source of the sound.
Oh no!
I was drifting towards the filtration system outflow!
I made my peace and prepared to meet my doom.
But then ...
I was lifted from the hungry waters just in the nick of time. It was all quite miraculous.
I felt a bit like Fay Wray as the giant hand lifted me high above the water.
Had I traded a watery death for a role as the entree for this giant's lunch?
Again, I prepared to meet my doom.
But then ...
... the hand gently set me down in the shady litter of a palm tree.
I crawled off the giant hand and checked myself for injuries.
Six legs? Check.
Three body segments? Check.
Compound eyes? Check.
Two antennae? Check.
Cleverly hidden wings? Check.
I was all there!
That's my tale and I'm sticking to it.
Was it a close encounter?
A heavenly intervention?
The truth is out there.
But then ...
Had I traded a watery death for a role as the entree for this giant's lunch?
Again, I prepared to meet my doom.
But then ...
I crawled off the giant hand and checked myself for injuries.
Six legs? Check.
Three body segments? Check.
Compound eyes? Check.
Two antennae? Check.
Cleverly hidden wings? Check.
I was all there!
Was it a close encounter?
A heavenly intervention?
The truth is out there.
Sounds like someone has a little too much time on his hands. Perhaps I can give Mrs. FC a quick phone call and fix this!
ReplyDeleteLightenin
LOL you are so darn clever. I sure enjoy your blog!
ReplyDeleteI'll type this comment correctly yet.....
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were at a mitigation site in Pembroke Pines on Sunday morning. We noticed a dragonfly trapped in a spider web. He was struggling. We could NOT leave him there, so my husband got a stick long enough to reach the dragonfly, broke the spider's web (sorry, spidey) and off flew the dragonfly to my husband's cry of "he's free!" Another life saved - another good deed done, except for stealing Mr. Spidey's dinner
I think that is the only beetle that is not in our pool in Houston.
ReplyDeleteOur hero!!
ReplyDeleteQuite a nice gesture, FC. Of course none of his beetle friends will believe a word of it. Good thing you took photos.
ReplyDeleteLightning,
ReplyDeleteShhhh.
Joni,
Welcome to Pure Florida!
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Suze,
I do the same thing sometimes. It's the struggle that gets to me.
Scott,
We don't have one of those concrete swimming holes, but when the kids were little, we had an above ground pool that was a bug magnet.
Momadness,
:) I couldn't leave him. I didn't know it would turn into a post, I just always have my camera around.
Robin,
How true. The beetle clan are very skeptical.
You are a sweetheart. Not only do you rescue the little guy, you let him post to your blog.
ReplyDeleteWren,
ReplyDeleteActually, I was having a bit of writer's block and the beetle offered to take over.
You are way too nice! (Off to chemically destroy some overpopulated annelids in my pond.)
ReplyDeleteHey man, those are the little buggers that eat my hops! Everything else seems to leave them alone, but those dudes are relentless!
ReplyDeleteNow I know where they come from!
FC, I think that you may have actually rescued a damsel in distress here. The pronotal "shield" is fairly flattened in this individual. I've always associated that with females (plus there are no horns, though that isn't an absolute requirement for males). Phanaeus has always been a favortie beetle of mine.
ReplyDeleteDeb,
ReplyDeleteAhhhh, I love the smell of Copper Sulfate in the morning :)
Dave,
Maybe they're beer beetles :)
Doug,
Thanks for the info. I didn't have a clue as to the sex of this biobot.
Pretty amazing sheen.
LOL! That's great.
ReplyDeleteYou can make a story out of anything! "My grubby youth... playing dung ball..." Great stuff.
ReplyDelete