Every summer around here, we get these big, clumsy beetles… that fly. They don’t look like they could, but they can–and how! You should see the acrobatics when a sparrow tries to catch one on the wing. But the thing that intrigues Mr. Nature is the strange attraction these beetles feel for the white aluminum siding on this building, and their compulsion to blunder into it. Now, if the beetle were the most sophisticated aircraft built by man, it still couldn’t afford to go banging repeatedly into a sheer cliff. But the beetle can. Bomp, bomp, bomp–and he never falls down.
God’s stuff–way cooler than our own.
So true. God’s flying creatures can do much more than any airplane or helicopter could ever dream of doing. Besides that, they are tough as nails. Give a light airplane a dirty look and it’ll wrinkle the skin, but insects are able to handle quite a shock.
You should see these guys flying into the wall, bouncing off, and flying into it again. They may be tough, but I guess they’re not that smart.
I can relate to that. 🙂
I believe they’re June bugs. They seem not to have any sense of direction whatsoever, banging into walls, people – whatever happens to be there 🙂
If you ever hit one while riding a motorcycle you will develop an amazing amount of respect for them. 🙂
While sitting on my porch one evening in Florida, my cousin thought he’d been shot in the ear! But, no. It was one of those crazy kamikaze beetles 🙂
I can’t even imagine how much that would make one’s ear hurt. I know that I hit one on a motorcycle once, at about 60 MPH, and durn-near came off the bike. 🙂
I’ve been on the bike with Michael going down to the beach, and we have those pesky little gnats. Even they hurt when you’re on a motorcycle, so how much more one of those hard-shelled beetles! Michael’s had a few experiences like that as well. In Florida, there’s no helmet law, so most people don’t wear them, but he wears protective sunglasses made for riding. That would be an awful thing – any bug in your eye while riding.
One thing I never see around here anymore–bats. I wonder where they’ve gone.
Now there’s something I can do without – bats! I’ve seen more of them than I care to. There aren’t many creatures I have an aversion to, but bats are one of them. Yes, I know, they’re interesting and eat insects – but I once had them coming into my apartment when my children were young, until I found the hole in the closet wall where they were entering. Needless to say, that got patched up pronto! It’s rather disconcerting to find a bat on your child’s pillow while they sleep.
Shades of Bela Lugosi…
Him I liked 🙂
Bats are pretty interesting, but they can harbor rabies (although not as often as many people would think). A few years ago, I saw some videos on fruit bats and was astounded. It’s a very prolific species.