Today in science we learned about living things (other than plants) needing oxygen to live. We recreated Priestley's experiment with the candle in the jar. That was a big hit. Of course, Priestley went on to add a mouse to the jar and when the candle went out, the mouse died. Now, as much as I loathe mice, I wasn't about to duplicate this part of scientific history. We needed something a bit smaller. Enter Daddy Longlegs. (What can I say? He was handy and I could pick him up easily. Houseflies are much harder to catch.)
We put him in the jar, lit the candle, and screwed on the lid to let the laws of nature take their course. Problem is, once the candle went out he didn't die right away. He slowed way down but still tried valiantly to escape the glass. As his movements became slower and slower, Ben started to get agitated. He understood what was happening to the critter and didn't like it. (Quite frankly I didn't like it either, but I was willing to sacrifice an insect in the name of scientific knowledge.)
Finally, Ben couldn't take it anymore and asked me to please let the spider out of the jar. I did, and after a brief recovery period, I'm happy to say that Daddy Longlegs walked happily through the grass to safety. May he live a long, productive life.
Melawat Pengamal Reflexology
8 years ago
