Like many girls/women, I am a squeamish when it comes to slimy/wriggly creatures.
I've fed maggots (from a bait box) to a chicken suffering from a blocked crop.... but my hand shook the whole time, and I felt nauseous as I watched the seething mass.
I realise that my fear is entirely irrational, but fear is fear - and even irrational fear can't just be stopped.
With Tilda "on her last legs", some time ago I decided to buy some live mealworms for her final couple of days. Looking at the mail order prices at Wiggly Wigglers, the 1kg option seemed the best value. I wasn't quite sure how many mealworms would be in 1kg, but I realised that I would need something to contain them in the fridge.
I did some research and bought some superduper bait boxes. They were a bit like Lock n Lock, with four separate locks, but for bait. I ordered three different sized boxes: I might be squeamish about slimy wriggly things, but I don't want them to suffer unnecessarily.
The boxes arrived. The mealworms arrived. I was surprised that they arrived in 2 x 500g brown bags, each bag containing egg cartons to stop the poor things gettng squashed. I opened one of the bags, and heaved. I was a complete girly as I tried to empty them in to the boxes. There may have been a lot of irritating girly squealing.
Some escaped. I had to find Tilda, pick her up and carry her to the escapees so she could remove them.
I gave some to Tilda from the tub. I tried to give some to the rest of the garden gang, but they upset the pot and ended up with rather more in one go than I bargained for. I recoiled every time I found an escapee worm on the kitchen floor.
This carried on in a similar vein for some time, meaning that my first 1kg of mealworms did not last very long. I ordered some more, and this time I was prepared for what would arrive.
This time I put some of the egg carton in the tubs. I put CSI gloves on, and managed to get the escapees out of the corners of the bags, off the floor, etc, into the tubs. When I fed the girls this time, I decanted a small amount of worms into a small tub, and then shook the tub onto the ground. If the girls managed to knock my arm, I only lost a small number of wormies in the process.
This delivery lasted a little while. After a couple of days I was concerned for the welfare of the worms. I did some research, and ended up putting crushed weetabix and grated carrot in the tubs. I progressed to bringing thetubs out of the fridge every couple of days, letting the worms come out of hibernation to eat, and then putting them back in the fridge.
I realised that my fear was stupid, but I just couldn't help myself. I did get cross with myself for being such a girly, and one day I made myself pick up some worms with my fingertips, tossing them into the Garden Girls. They weren't actually slimy at all.
I made myself do that each time. I made myself put some worms in the palm of my hand for the Girls to peck at. I did the same at the allotment.
By the time the third delivery arrived, I was not wincing at all as I emptied them into their newly cleaned tubs. I swept the escapees off the worktop with my hand. I picked up individual houdinis. I didn't recoil when I found the odd worm in the odd place. I kept a carrot in the fridge especially for the wormies.
And so, I'm cured.
But it's a very specific cure. Mealworms are manageable. Maggots.... not sure about the!
I've fed maggots (from a bait box) to a chicken suffering from a blocked crop.... but my hand shook the whole time, and I felt nauseous as I watched the seething mass.
I realise that my fear is entirely irrational, but fear is fear - and even irrational fear can't just be stopped.
With Tilda "on her last legs", some time ago I decided to buy some live mealworms for her final couple of days. Looking at the mail order prices at Wiggly Wigglers, the 1kg option seemed the best value. I wasn't quite sure how many mealworms would be in 1kg, but I realised that I would need something to contain them in the fridge.
I did some research and bought some superduper bait boxes. They were a bit like Lock n Lock, with four separate locks, but for bait. I ordered three different sized boxes: I might be squeamish about slimy wriggly things, but I don't want them to suffer unnecessarily.
The boxes arrived. The mealworms arrived. I was surprised that they arrived in 2 x 500g brown bags, each bag containing egg cartons to stop the poor things gettng squashed. I opened one of the bags, and heaved. I was a complete girly as I tried to empty them in to the boxes. There may have been a lot of irritating girly squealing.
Some escaped. I had to find Tilda, pick her up and carry her to the escapees so she could remove them.
I gave some to Tilda from the tub. I tried to give some to the rest of the garden gang, but they upset the pot and ended up with rather more in one go than I bargained for. I recoiled every time I found an escapee worm on the kitchen floor.
This carried on in a similar vein for some time, meaning that my first 1kg of mealworms did not last very long. I ordered some more, and this time I was prepared for what would arrive.
This time I put some of the egg carton in the tubs. I put CSI gloves on, and managed to get the escapees out of the corners of the bags, off the floor, etc, into the tubs. When I fed the girls this time, I decanted a small amount of worms into a small tub, and then shook the tub onto the ground. If the girls managed to knock my arm, I only lost a small number of wormies in the process.
This delivery lasted a little while. After a couple of days I was concerned for the welfare of the worms. I did some research, and ended up putting crushed weetabix and grated carrot in the tubs. I progressed to bringing thetubs out of the fridge every couple of days, letting the worms come out of hibernation to eat, and then putting them back in the fridge.
I realised that my fear was stupid, but I just couldn't help myself. I did get cross with myself for being such a girly, and one day I made myself pick up some worms with my fingertips, tossing them into the Garden Girls. They weren't actually slimy at all.
I made myself do that each time. I made myself put some worms in the palm of my hand for the Girls to peck at. I did the same at the allotment.
By the time the third delivery arrived, I was not wincing at all as I emptied them into their newly cleaned tubs. I swept the escapees off the worktop with my hand. I picked up individual houdinis. I didn't recoil when I found the odd worm in the odd place. I kept a carrot in the fridge especially for the wormies.
And so, I'm cured.
But it's a very specific cure. Mealworms are manageable. Maggots.... not sure about the!
