Like Mother, Like Daughter

As most of you know, I'm an entomologist by training but I was more surprised than anybody when Marika displayed an early aptitude and love for insects. She's been finding a lot of ladybugs and pupae in the backyard...

It just warms my heart when I see my little girl out there, hunting for bugs! She told me she was carefully leaning against the tree, to make sure she didn't squish any pupae!

There only a few disadvantages of having a kid around, who loves bugs.

1. You find a lot of dead bug bodies lying around the house. This grosses me out, so I gave her a box to put her dead bugs in. Maybe she's running out of storage space...?

2. She collects lots of live bugs, but often forgets to let them go later in the evening. I hope this doesn't lead to some bad karma catching up to her!

3. It's a bit frustrating to take her on a walk/ride around the neighborhood, because you're constantly forced to stop for bugs along the way. Last Saturday, we stopped and picked up a few ladybugs and a one-legged grasshopper who was being eaten by ants. And yes - we also stop for loose change... =)