Things that go “bump” in the night.
Just a quick post today so I don’t fall out of practice.
I just had to share a photo of the beetle that my husband found wandering in our crawlspace the other night (I don’t even want to think about how it got in there). He felt something brush his hand and was quite surprised to see this thing looking back at him when he pointed the flashlight at it. Once he regained consciousness, he called me to come take a look (oh joy), and after we managed to calm ourselves down, we caught it in a jar and put it in our insect cage (count on homeschoolers to have such a thing) for safekeeping until morning so the kids could enjoy its beauty before we let him go.
I was quite concerned that we were infested with some rare species of tropical cockroach, but it turns out that this guy is a Pine Sawyer beetle, which is native to BC. I have to say, I’ve spent a lot of time in the BC wilderness, and I’ve never laid eyes on this particular insect before (thank goodness for small miracles), but than again, neither had my father-in-law, who’s a retired forester.
I guess we were lucky to catch a glimpse of such a rare creature, but for now, I’ll be steering clear of the crawlspace.
Bloody Hell!!!!
I must give your dear husband some credit for not freaking out and running like his hair was on fire after seeing this thing.
(:
Hi There…
I’ve visited your blog a few times…I think it’s just wonderful what you guys are doing. It is me,and my husband’s dream to move back to B.C.(I’m from Victoria) and build a lovely little home on our own land.
Now this little guy(yikes!) that you’ve got pictured here…he’s quite a beauty. π
I’d be steering clear of the crawlspace too!
Chelee – You do a great Ron Weasly! ;D
Thanks for the laugh!
Enchantedartist – My husband and I both went to UVIC. I absolutely love Victoria. I hope you get your dream sometime soon!
That is one scary looking beast. Glad he is native of somewhere other than here;-). Of course, being a home school family, we would be doing the same thing, saving it to show the kids and taking photos.
My goodness. I have to say that in all my time spent in BC bush I have NEVER seen a beetle like that! Amazingly beautiful picture. I’m not so sure I’d like to come face to face with it though!
Dawn – I don’t know, Edmonton’s not that far across the border! ;D
Bug watching is definitely one of our favorite things, but I like it better when we seek them out, not vice versa.
Annie – One thing we read said that people are occasionally startled to have them fly into their lanterns at night. I guess they’d be startled!! Thankfully, it didn’t get airborn while we were in the vicinity!
Oh yes, startled would be an understatement if one of those flew near me!!
hello there –
crazy creature, i’m glad i never met one in the BC bush either. although it’s real nice to see it’s picture π
in India, i once had a small lizard – the see-through kind – fall from a thatched roof into my hair. talk about freaking out and running like my hair was on fire!!!!
oh, the small surprises we get out there…
EEEEEEEEK. (I bet the kids LOVED Mr. Beetle!)
Lu
Yikes! That’s quite the large beetle you have there…or is that just the micro on your camera? In any case, very happy I haven’t seen any around here.
Kompostella – A see-through lizard in your hair??!! That would do me in!
Lu – They thought he was pretty cool, but only outside the house.
Carla – Nope, that’s not the macro, unfortunately, he was at least 3 inches long! That’s Chuck’s hand behind him for scale.
Oh no!That looks not so nice!
About how big would you say in inches was the bug? It is big but hard for me to tell in a picture how big. Thanks for the post.