Marvelous Millipede

When I was taking Badger the Wonder Dog for a walk down the road on Saturday I spotted a millipede sauntering along on the edge of the road way. Not wanting him/her to be smunched by a passing car I scooped it up and brought it home. It was a pretty good sized one so I photographed it next to a yardstick before I let it go in the forest behind the house. What a cool looking creature. How do they keep all those legs organized and traveling in one direction? If you look closely at the image you can see evenly spaced groups of legs that are out of focus because they are moving faster than the shutter speed I used. There are waves of motion that travel down each side of the body to go forward. It is quite fascinating to watch. God created such a marvelous little creature. Have a wonderful evening and God bless, chris

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Earlier over the weekend I finished stacking the last of the woodpile for the upcoming winter. As usual there were some critters at the bottom of the pile. There were two lizards that I captured and immediately set free. One Western Fence Lizard and one Northern Alligator Lizard. The remaining creature I saved until this evening to photograph. A five inch long North American Millipede. Millipedes are pretty amazing. They are detritivores meaning that the eat the detris or rotting vegetation on the forest floor. Being nocturnal they prefer to stay out of the light and in dark places under logs or leaves. For protection from predators they will roll up into a spiral shape. If that doesn't work they will release a foul and burning chemical that will convince many small creatures not to eat it. Luckily tonight I handled this millepede rather gently and I didn't end up with smelly hands before I let it go back into the forest. God's love and protection to all, chris

Detrivore

This morning I went to put out the dogs for their morning constitutional. As I was stepping back into the house I noticed a rippling movement down by my feet. Down on the deck there was a a Millipede making it's way around the corner of the house. Millipedes are a very cool creature. They live on the forest floor and eat rotting vegetation. As a result of this diet they are part of a group of creatures called detrivores. They eat the detris of the forest.Watching one travel is fascinating. Their legs move in waves that travel down the length of their body as they move forward. They can travel in reverse as well! Naturally I picked it up and photographed it on some leaves before I released it back into the forest near the house. God bless, chris

Is There Really One Hundred Legs?

You just never no what you will find when you live in the country. There was a centipede underneath my container for bird seed. So here it is. How many legs are there?

Have fun and God bless,

chris