(no subject)

[enismirdal]

Am I the only one in the universe who actively likes silverfish? Maybe they're just smaller and less destructive in the UK, compared to the New World/Tropical species, but I just find them cute and completely benign.

My flatmates banned me from feeding the ones in our student halls. So I haven't been encouraging the ones here either, even though I'd rather like to. I just admire their ability to live on stuff like dead skin and shampoo foam.

Comments

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

b

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my LJ updating client was throwing fits!

(For those readers arriving at this comment after I've made edits, the original entry read:
a
)

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

meanwhile...

I have a particular soft spot for springtails.

Silverfish make me think of some alien lifeform - or an entire ecology - existing in the solution chemistry of mercury instead of that of water.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Yes! They remind me of a little mercury insect as well! When it's 3 in the morning and I've gone to the loo half asleep and see this little shining wiggling thing flash across the floor, it always takes me a few moments to remember what I'm looking at!

Springtails are rather cute.

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Yes, you are the only one in the universe. Except for maybe other entomology types...

They scurry too much and they leave gray dust everywhere. Euw.

I do like bees now though... not yellow jackets and hornets, but everything else... so maybe silverfish have a chance?

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Hooray! I have a convert to bee-appreciation!

Yeah, I guess wasps and stuff take longer to come around to, since they do have a way of approaching people at picnics and stuff. I don't mind them when I've finished a meal, but even I don't particularly like sharing my meal with half a dozen wasps! (While we were in Jersey we stopped for lunch at the zoo café, and there must have been a wasps' nest in the eves as there were wasps EVERYWHERE outside. Since one of the people I was with is terrified of wasps we had to move inside. It was a bit over-waspified!)

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

I don't think I am capable of coming around to yellow jackets--- one crawled down my shirt when I was in 4th grade and bit me 4 times. Stoopid nun didn't believe me... :(

[ewx.livejournal.com]

AIUI they're a sign of damp, which one might want to do something about even if the silverfish themselves aren't objectionable...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that: lots of insects make you feel uncomfortable just for being there, even if you wouldn't mind them somewhere else.

Not me, but I assume some other people notice the potential cuteness. I think I was turned off by early aversion: the first I heard of silverfish was in Pratchett's Carpet People, and then someone telling me what they were :)

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about them liking damp areas, though since they turn up in the bathrooms, I guess those are pretty much always going to be more-humid-than-average. I once saw one in my room, which is a surprise, as my room is pretty much dry as a bone. It certainly doesn't show any evidence of rising damp or ceiling mould or the usual danger signs.

[nybiara.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read Shaenon Garrity's webcomic, Skin Horse? There's an adorable few weeks of strips involving silverfish, starting with this one. The background: Tip, who works for a shadowy government organisation dealing with non-human sentiences, has had everything in his office stolen by some insects that were released by the Department of Irradiation.

[l-j-b.livejournal.com]

I like them :)
This is not entirely unexpected though. *entomology flag*
Shiny, skiddery little Thysanura ^_^

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

I fail to be bothered about silverfish. I don't bother evicting them, but I'd prefer they didn't get into my food.

I have a similar opinion regarding cockroaches*woodlice.

*I once got called upon to remove a cockroach, which turned out to be a woodlouse :-).

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Woodlice are OK. I tend to evict them just because unlike silverfish, they tend to die in inconvenient places and I am not a fan of cleaning up ancient woodlouse corpses that crumble when touched!

Cockroaches I will admit to hating with a passion, mostly because I associate them with Dirty Things, like stereotypical bachelor pads!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I find them intriguing and rather pretty, but I do not actually "like" them. And I wouldn't feed them (actively, that is; obviously I am shedding dead skin and leaving shampoo foam in the shower like anybody else). Actually I haven't seen any in our house so far, now that I think about it! Odd. My parents' house has several, and it's not like we're being super-duper cleanly...

[shenya.livejournal.com]

I was under the impression that silverfish ate books... making them anathema in most of the houses I visit :P

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

People say this, but I've never found any damage to my books. I figure it must be just ones that don't live in London or something!

[shenya.livejournal.com]

I suspect they do more damage to dustcovers than pages of books. But the principle remains :P