Silverfish

As I lay in bed at my parents house, my mind wandered and settled on the silverfish. Odd creatures. They glide around as if swimming. They move as though limbless. They are one of a very small number of insects that don't cause me to run around in a mad state of panic. I find that I watch them with mild interest. They are oddly therapeutic.

My parents house has communities of silverfish. They appear at night. I catch them mid forage, then they glide away quickly to the safety of bathroom corners, when they sense my approach. They no doubt reconvene their food search when I leave.

Stop me oh oh oh stop me (little bit of Smiths there) if I'm mad but it strikes me that they'd make very low maintenance pets. Granted they are not great for stroking, they'd glide off before you got a hand in but they are interesting to watch. Plus the obvious advantages like they live in houses anyway, they eat stuff that is already there. This could catch on. Forget exotic pets that should remain in exotic locations. Make your pet a silverfish.

I have a few pet woodlice and the occassional pet spider stops by from time to time - I'd rather they didn't but they pop in regardless. I have no silverfish. My house is too new I think.

Should it be that you have an uncontrollable desire to read more about the graceful silverfish, check out the wonderful Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

FYI: this blog is 60 - 40 serious - jest.

xxx