wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.

Anecdotes – Ruby and the Bug

37 Comments

 

The ten-lined June beetle lives underground for two or three years as a larva that looks like a hungry white prawn. It eats the roots of plants, and loves to destroy my potato crop.

 When it is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, it hatches as a beetle, in those hot days of summer. It likes to fly around and land on an unsuspecting person’s back, where that victim can’t reach it.

 

These bugs freak me out. I always turn up my collar and stay close to the house when I take our dog out for last call.

Our English springer spaniel puppy, Ruby, had a different view of these beetles. She thought God had put them on this earth for her to chase and, perhaps to bring them into the house to play with.

At this point I would like to share an entry I made in one of my journals where I wrote things of note that happened on any particular day. (The Captain was away commercial fishing and might later be interested in reading how I spent my summer.) Our puppy, Ruby, was a little bit wild and crazy those first months of her life.

August 22, 2007

Ruby brought in a beetle again, after her last pee of the evening. She’s getting very surreptitious about it. She went straight to her doggie bed and put her chin on the bed, trying to look innocent. But I’m onto that fake innocence and sure enough, I heard bug screams coming from inside her mouth. “M-m-m-r-r-z-z-z! M-m-m-r-r-z-z-z!”

It was hard to make her give it up, but finally she spat it out, and batted at it meaning to play with it. I couldn’t just pick it up with my bare hands, but a little dog bowl was nearby, so I used it to try to scoop up the bug. I say “try” because it didn’t work out so well. The beetle has tiny hooks on its legs and they stuck to the fuzzy material of the dog bed. I tried scooping again and as it let go it brushed against my hand and I shrieked. The bug was flung into the corner under a chest of drawers, and Ruby, freaked out by my shriek, leapt up off the bed and backed off a few feet.

I laughed until I cried. Again. She has me laughing so often with her antics out in the yard. I’m sure the neighbours wonder about the old woman who lives alone and goes out into her backyard laughing out loud all by herself.

 

 

Author: wordsfromanneli

Writing, travel, photography, nature, more writing....

37 thoughts on “Anecdotes – Ruby and the Bug

  1. So funny!!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Aww, Ruby was so beautiful! Hugs. ☺️

    Liked by 1 person

  3. It was fun to read this post but I guess it wasn´t so much fun for you then. Ruby was such a beauty!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Ahhh, dogs and their gifts. I am sure they can not understand what all the fuss is about. Happy Thursday Anneli. Allan

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I had a good laugh with this one. Ruby was a beauty!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. What a fun tale. My Dixie Rose adored playing with our huge ‘palmetto bugs,’ which actually are like overgrown roaches. The good news is she’d dispatch them once she’d grown bored. I always told her “Good girl.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • I suppose that’s a good thing, if she dispatched them. That’s a useful thing. But bringing them into the house and later upchucking the wings (outside), was a price to pay for the way Ruby dealt with them. You had your Dixie Rose trained right!

      Liked by 1 person

  7. In his mouth! Yikes dogs are fun, aren’t they?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Oh yes, she wasn’t shy about snapping at these bugs. I just didn’t like that she brought them into the house and then tried to play with them. If they got away, under the freezer or someplace like that, then I had the problem of retrieving it. (By the way, when that happens, you use a long skinny stick and sweep blindly until you connect.)

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Happy New Year Anneli. Enjoyed this delightful story with Ruby and her June bug toy. A beautiful memory to share along with smiles. Your 2023 New Year friendship blog was an inspiration! Cherish YOU, your friendship is a wonderful treasure in my life.
    So glad we met the lady who laughs out loud, late in the evening!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Such a funny memory of Ruby. Although, at the time it probably didn’t seem that way, when trying to pry open her mouth and not touch the bug. Eeek! I’d freak out hearing that in my dog’s mouth. I’m guessing Emma isn’t as interested in those bugs?

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Great story! Sorry about your loss! Ana

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What a great story, Anneli. Ruby reminds me of our English Springer Spaniel, Jasper, from my childhood. I’m so sorry she’s no longer with you. When that beetle was flung, I thought of how my reaction would be the same if a spider landed on me. 🙂 Yikes! And I don’t think I’d want a 2 inch beetle on my back either.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Ruby is enjoying is lunch Anita

    Like

  13. I think the icky larva would creep me out more than the beetle, Anneli. My grandmother used to wear jewelry made out of beetles and it was usually beautiful, so I was used to seeing them on her clothing (lapel pins and brooches). Weird, huh? I think I laughed most at Ruby’s trying to look innocent with a beetle buzzing for help in her mouth. Lol

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Haha! That’s a great story, Anneli! Those beetles would freak me out too.

    Like

  15. Anneli, this is a wonderful tale of Ruby and you – I’m chuckling away! Your writing is so vivid I’m picturing the scene brilliantly. Beetles are SO creepy and I avoid them as best I can!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I just cannot help but to laugh. Hmm, I wonder what the neighbors are writing in their journals.

    Like

Leave a comment