My pets

Last night while I was watching TV, something crashed into my living room window. I opened the sliding glass door, and a rhinoceros beetle was turned upside-down. I flipped him over and was faced with a dilemma: Do I bring him in and add him to the aquarium with my other rhinoceros beetles? Hmm . . . he might have mites clinging to his legs and I didn't want them spreading to the beetles I've been so carefully raising for the last three years, so I just put some food out which he enjoyed. Here's a picture of him snacking on the beetle jelly I placed in the hanging planter outside my window.

I'm so lucky. Downtown at the pet store these little critters sell for $5 each, and here they are flying into my living room window! So you're probably wondering, why on earth would I start raising beetles?

A few years ago a friend was talking about how he used to love them as a kid and carried a net and bug-carrying case wherever he went. After reminiscing about how much he loved them, he wanted to go into the forest to go looking for some (at 4am, I might add. Yes, this was unbelievable to me, too, but I went along). A few days after we caught some wild ones, I realized that they're flying around my neighborhood, too. In fact, one night I heard something bumping against the window and when I opened it, a beetle flew in! Anyhow those first beetles laid eggs, I raised the larvae, and a good number of the babies pupated into adult beetles. Then those beetles laid eggs, I raised the larvae, and so on and so forth. For the last three years. You know, I used to think they were pretty scary with their spiny legs and beady eyes, but after watching over them for a while they've become like any other pet.

I just peeked outside to check on the beetle jelly that I left out last night, and he's back! He remembered me. And he brought a friend with him.