ew...

 
Sometimes being a biologist has it's costs.

I just woke up.

This morning I was dreaming, the images crystal clear, that I had a bunch of house plants and they'd been invaded by pale green scale insects, and sometimes when I'd reach in to scrape them off, some that were in a row would then raise up and morph into a green caterpillar which would then start walking. And there were ants surrounding the whole mess.

ew.

I think it was inspired by Bug Girls post on shellac, "also not a beetle," and its reference to a previous post on scale insects.

For some reason, scale insects creep me out. I think it's 'cause when I wasn't paying attention, they found and then COVERED my little plant, a cute little pink polka dot thing that I loved. I was so grossed out I chucked the whole thing out in the trash in the alley.

I know. I should have handled it. I am a biologist, after all. However, I do reserve the right to get grossed out by a very few things. Maybe next time I'll deal.

So, as I have suggested before, sometimes when a biologist is dreaming about a snake, rather than dipping into handy psychological symbology and suggesting it's a sexual thing, ask yourself if they actually handle snakes.

Sometimes a snake is just a snake.

Especially if you're a biologist.

And now, I'm off to check my plants for scale.

=)

biobabbler

P.S. What wildlife thing freaks you out?