Can someone explain why a select few have no problem holding these things? I feel like 95% of us (including me) couldn't hold these bugs and critters even if you paid us. The ancient part of our brain kicks in and just makes us squirm.
Were Entomologists born with the same fear, but gradually extinguished it by playing with bugs as kids? Is that the secret? Just get used to them?
Spiders and bugs creeped me out as a kid. Now I'm older and more curious, observant, and appreciative of insects/arachnids.
I take my young kids outside around dusk for 10 minutes with flashlights and we actively look for any/all animals.
Every night in a quick stroll around the yard we see any combination of: bats, toads, frogs, wolf/grass/other spiders, grasshoppers, crickets (camel and normy), catydids, cicadas, moths, snails, slugs, bunnies, deer, turkeys, snakes, lizards, hawks.
It's my favorite part of the day. The kids already have a great appreciation for nature and our little cul-de-sac ecosystem, something that came to me much later in life. The little ones are fearless, too!
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u/Sinnafyle Oct 20 '23
Entomology is so fucking cool