Posted by JerryS on May 22, 2012 at 20:10:57 from (98.80.101.79):
The post by Hammer House asking how to get rid of roly-poly bugs got me to thinking about something: his question made me realize I haven’t seen a roly-poly bug in many years, and they used to be almost a nuisance. That made me think of other species that in my world were once common, but now are to my knowledge non-existent.
In the insect world, there were lots of interesting beetles and moths that flocked around the lights at night, occasionally some of the giant ones like Grant’s Rhinoceros. No more, not here. It has been many years since I’ve seen the long purple centipede. I haven’t seen a green or black or brown tumblebug in decades, but then I’m not near any livestock. Also gone are the big “graveyard grasshoppers” as we called them---orange and black or green and gold. Scorpions used to be plentiful here, but I haven’t seen one in 20 years, and I’m constantly in the woods piling up old dead wood. Heck, on my place it’s been a while since I’ve even seen an earthworm. Maybe I just live in a dead zone.
Moving up to the higher orders: as a lad I loved hunting quail with my dad, and sitting on the porch and whistling them up to within a few feet of us was an enjoyable evening pastime. I have not so much as heard the whistle of a quail in more than 20 years. Woodcocks and field larks were once common, but they’ve been gone for many, many years. We used to enjoy racing the roadrunners down the backroads, or seeing where they’d hung a lizard on a barb wire fence. No roadrunners for many years. And, speaking of lizards----the brown “rusty” lizard that once was common as kinfolks seems to be a thing of the past.
I’m sure there are other critters that have dropped off the scope, but unless someone mentions them, like the roly-poly (pill bugs, we called them), their absence isn’t noticed. On the other hand, in my 71-year lifespan I have seen other species arrive and proliferate. My dad was an avid hunter, but he was well into his 50s before he killed his first deer. Why? There weren’t any here in north Louisiana. My dad, who lived in the rural country all his life, was in his 40s before he saw his first armadillo. I was grown before I heard my first coyote serenade. Now deer, coyotes and armadillos are thick as fleas.
The fire ant is another creature that made its appearance in my lifetime. I suspect that this scourge has a lot to with many of the other disappearing species, especially the ground-dwellers.
I suppose it's natural that insidious changes are going on all around us all the time ( won’t even get into the climate); just wondered if any of you have noticed as well.
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