Under this very refrigerator in my Florida home, I found the mysterious worm-like creature pictured below. I have no idea what it is. It is about three inches long. I couldn't reach it with gloved-hands to pick it up and drop it outside. I could only reach it with a long narrow strip of wooden molding. And I couldn't stand the thought of it darting in and out of hideaways in my kitchen -- or worse yet -- in my bedroom. I was afraid, too, it might be harmful to me and my family. So as a last resort, holding a flashlight, I jabbed it with a long, thin wooden- molding that I managed to slip under the refrigerator. That accounts for the crushed injury in the middle of this creature. May be hard to see, but it has two sets of legs -- one set close to the head and the other toward the tail end. Unlike a worm, it has a definite lizard-like face, also hard to make out in the photo. But from what you see, can you guess what this creature is? Did I kill a harmless, innocent creature, or did I free my home from something as dangerous as a tape worm, scorpion or a disease-laden tick? Not all that is ugly is dangerous -- and not all that is beautiful is safe. Fear and ignorance make us strike what is harmless -- but hesitancy and timidity tie our hands while danger grows among us. Was this a harmless creature, destroyed out of ignorance and fear -- or was it as noxious as a rat or roach whose death made a home healthier and safer? Please e-mail your answer to me at richard@gordonrichard.com. Tell me what the creature is. As answers come in, I'll be posting them on the Responses page. The district manager of my exterminator company has e-mailed me her opinion.
©Copyright 2000 by Richard Edward
Gordon. All rights reserved. |
