Pretty, Little Millipede!

  I am curious by nature and find some of the most mundane things exceedingly interesting.  What others pass by as boring,  I will drop to my knees and study for hours.  Of course, now that I am...ummm...a LITTLE older, I have the time to do this but the curiosity has been with me since I was a wee tot.  This was perhaps most instilled in me by my grandfather.   Being the youngest of a brood of five, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents...or...maybe they were stuck with me when Mom needed a break.  In my small mind, it was a treat, regardless.  Granddaddy often would take me outside to explore the yard.  Every flower, tree, bird and bug was met with great excitement.  He would take the time to tell me odd little facts about each discovery.  I am not sure just how he knew all of these things but I am so glad that he saw fit to teach me.

  This morning while Son and I were cleaning up after some major construction on the Little Bayou House, I noticed a tiny sand circle on the ground.  We had cleared the area of some large sheets of cement board and of course the spot was teeming with critters.  This circle, however, stood out as being my curious find of the day.  It was just too perfectly formed and had a critter dwelling inside!  The palest of pale millipede seemed unperturbed that we had removed the roof of its house.  The millipede was tightly coiled inside its earthen home and was probably hoping we would just go away and let it finish its nap.  Nope!  I needed to photograph that sweet thing!

  After my photography session, I did, indeed, leave the critter be.  In fact, knowing it desired a cool, dark place to spend the day, I gently covered the sleeping critter with some damp mulch.  Whereas other folks would have immediately pulled out the insecticide, I saved the creature.  These things do so much good, whether folks want to believe it or not.  Millipedes are sort of the great recyclers of the critter world.  They have an intense appetite for decaying plant matter, fungi and small insects. They do their part of keeping all of this recycled back into the ground.  Pretty neat.  Pretty Millipede!