I ordered pants for the wedding this week because I'd look pretty funny getting married without pants. I also ordered a strange bug this week because... well, because I could, dammit. I hope my discovery of internet invertebrate stores doesn't open a whole new can of worms (so to speak). My bug, a Tanzanian Giant Banded Tailless Whipscorpion, arrived today. He came tucked among the folds of some slightly damp paper towels inside a plastic container, which was inside another plastic container inside a box full of packing peanuts. He also came with his own lunch - an even smaller plastic container full of micro crickets. If you ever want to ship live bugs, take notes.
He is a small arachnid with impressively long front legs. He can fold them up so he doesn't trip over them when he walks. Like his name suggests, his legs are indeed banded. I fixed up a living space for him and fed him his lunch. He immediately sprang into action and gobbled up some crickets. Seeing his speed, I decided that I probably won't hold him much. He would be hard to catch if he got away.
In other invertebrate news, I found that I have competition in my efforts to collect dead bees in the museum garden. The Yellowjackets like to eat them. I saw one today munching away - "gorging themselves on the recently deceased," to paraphrase the hit song.

Outside, it is cool and pleasant. The leaves are starting to fall.

Animals spotted tonight: Did you guess skunks and egrets? Two of one and ten of the other.

cds, always cds: Finntroll "Jaktens Tid" (polka metal!), Amy Denio "Birthing Chair Blues", v/a "Tulikulkku", The (EC) Nudes "Vanishing Point", and Marta Gudrun Halldorsdottir & Orn Magnusson "Islensk Bjodlog" (this is an approximation, since there are no icelandic characters on my keyboard)... (like you care...)

Now: R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton "Ancestral Voices"