Leave Me Alone! I Am Hiding!

  Late this afternoon, my hike found me gathering twigs to light a fire when I headed back to the Little Bayou House.  Even though the weather is still more springlike than winter, a small, crackling fire in the old woodburning stove sure feels good.  Picking up the small branches would occasionally uncover a critter that had taken refuge beneath the bark.  One particularly rotten branch exposed a rather lengthy centipede. The critter must have been basking in the warm sunshine because it was able to scoot rather speedily around in the soft sand.  Once the critter realized that it was fully in the open, it panicked.  "I need to hide!"  So, instead of searching for a leaf or cluster of dead grass, the centipede stuck its head and about half its body down into the soft sand.  "You can't see me! Now, go away!", I imagined the bug saying.

  The antics of the centipede reminded me of the old cliche "An ostrich with its head stuck in the sand" in referring to someone that denies the existence of a problem in hopes that it will just go away.  By the way, just for clarification, OSTRICHES DO NOT BURY THEIR HEADS IN SAND! Ostriches are much smarter than that as they realize that sticking their heads under sand may (and most likely would) lead to asphyxiation.  Birds are not that dumb!  However, it is obvious that either the centipede had a tunnel already dug so its breathing was not a problem or that critter is THAT stupid.  I am leaning toward the thought that a tunnel was the answer.

  Out of curiosity, I reached down at touched the little critter.  Immediately, the centipede wigggled its way completely under the sand.  Good move, little critter!  I eased the piece of bark back into place over the bug.  There was no need to disturb its cozy nest any longer.  It was a case of "live and let live".  I did not need that piece of wood badly enough that a critter could not have warmth as well.  There were plenty of other sticks in the area.