Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Giants Of The Earth?


Recently I was stumbled upon  the inner mechanics of my blogs and came across a tab named “statistics.”  I tried it and found something called “page views.”  And thereby discovered a ranking of my posts over the years.  As an ex teacher I try to make my book review and nature blogs informative and even, shall we say, educational. I rarely take the low road to humor or entertainment values for their own sake. J Thus, it was a huge disappointment that by far (17,000)  the most viewed post I ever wrote was the following. Sometime you have to wonder at the taste and values of the American Public…….

(July 23, 2010)  I'd never seen them before but they are all around us this summer. They're called earwigs. Oops wrong picture.
They're creeping crawly things, usually found, for example,hiding underneath Baron's water dish. They slither off at the slightest exposure and also try to sneak into the house.

They reportedly tunnel in thru the ears and nest in the brain. Take my word for it THIS IS A MYTH. They also DO NOT CARRY DISEASE.

With a rear mounted pincher they are scary to look at though. When I saw my first ones, my imagination got the best of me. Thinking they were babies, I recalled similar looking giant creatures in a movie, marauding through the streets of Japan & America, laying waste the countryside.
 
 
Thing Rod Serling....
 

 
 
Size: "1" 
Shape: Long, narrow

Color: Dark brown
Legs: 6

Wings: No
Antenna: Yes

Common Name: Earwig
Kindom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Dermaptera
Family: Forficulidae
Species: Forficula auricularia

Earwigs feed on leaves, flowers, fruits, mold and insects.
Mrs T has proposed dousing the house foundation with a pesticide. Being the "Green" member of the family, I've resisted that idea. Earwigs. Harmless, cute little bugs aren't they?
 

17 comments:

  1. Funny. The ear wig is too neat.

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  2. I enjoyed it, too. I have looked at my statistics and found it very curious which of my blog posts are the most "popular." I can see why this one might have been viewed often, since a search for "earwig" would bring it up. :-)

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  3. laughed at the first ear wig photo. :)

    yup, my most popular post is because i added a clipart of pepe le pew to a valentine's day post.

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  4. Cute? I don't think so. Thank goodness they aren't bigger!

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  5. Hilarious picture of the ear "wig." I can remember being scared out of my wits by an older brother who swore that those creepy things could crawl in your ear at night and eat your brain. I'm glad you debunked that myth, TB. Now I can rest easy.

    You're right that the strangest posts will climb the charts like nobody's business. One of my most popular posts features drunken pumpkins. I posted it a few years ago, and it seems to get more popular as time goes by. Must be a sign of the times.

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  6. Ear wigs don't scare me. I think they're kind of cute. But those old giant insect films were majorly creepy.
    Funny that "ear wig" was your big post, statistic-wise. My winner is "ear wax". Is there a pattern here? Are readers obsessed with ears and ear issues?

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  7. Too funny. :)
    The ear "wig" .. I'll have to show that to the kids! They'll get a kick out of it.

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  8. Totally cracked up at the wig for ears. Both those and the bug are ugly things.
    Hands down, my biggest draw is a post I did on Australian Blue Heelers. That is one popular dog, world wide.

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  9. I can see why you got the most views ... even if it wasn't your choice.
    My most visited blog is the one I wrote about dancing at the "Totem Pole" (a very popular Big Band venue in the 50's in Mass.) Almost all the comments were from seniors reliving their past !

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  10. I'm no longer surprised at what people find interesting or entertaining. I missed this post the first time around.

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  11. Strange what people are interested in... I truly don't know what kind of country/world we have these days. I never seem to like the same things that most people like... Maybe I'm the weird one. BUT---where are the smart people??? They interviewed a young man on TV tonight who goes to Cal Berkley. He didn't even know who our VP is.... Puh-lease... Earwigs???? Guess that is more interesting, huh???? Who knows???

    My all-time viewed post is one I did on honesty... Interesting, huh???

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  12. Good grief! I had to look it up... Possum Sex - wouldn't you know it? I bet folks were sadly disappointed in it, tho it is a bit interesting if you are interested in possums or marsupials, but sadly disappointing if you just want to read about the S word! LOL!

    But to earwigs... not among my favorite creatures, tho the first picture made me smile. Come winter that might not be a bad earWIG to have around!
    I never heard about them eating one's brains.

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  13. Heh heh! Glad it's a myth.

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  14. LOL! That startled me as I thought someone had major ear hair there for a moment! Haha!
    Hope you are having a very happy Sunday!
    xo Catherine

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  15. I am one of the few people on earth who like earwigs. They can damage your plants, but they are otherwise harmless, and rather attentive mothers!

    http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1688375/earwig_mothers_spoil_their_healthiest_offspring/

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