What to do in these odd scenarios faced with a difficult option of 'take it or leave it'?

Nature Talk
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What should you/have you done when in a situation where you find an insect or other arthropod and you want to collect or photograph it, but you aren’t prepared. And have no means of photography or collection? What would you do? Or, have you been in this situation before? I know I have, today even!
I know that for some people, decisions can be difficult, even the simplest ones imaginable, this happens to me sometimes also, and this scenario is one that I feel is most appropriate for the general types of topics I make on here, and I like to share experiences with others a lot, even though now it is almost alll digital, I am an introvert, and I am shy at times when speaking out loud. I hope that this topic makes people laugh, ponder, or whatever they feel like, and that those who read or enter replies here enjoy themselves when they do so.
-Now I feel like I’m saying something for a commercial. yikes.

Best regards,

Connor

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You can record your observation without a photo or sound record. It will be casual, but YOU will still know you made it. People use iNat in lots of different ways, and this one is valid, too. It’s a good idea to note that’s it’s only for your personal records, though, so you don’t get comments asking you to add the photo!

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Improvise, if possible. Empty out your lunchbox to use as a container, eat your sandwhich way early so to use its container for collecting, empty out a water bottle, use shirt pockets (then don’t forget), can even use the housing of a compass if the item is small enough. Kinda depends on how bad you want it, for whatever reason.

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Today when I went out to get the mail, I found a small Notiophilus sylvaticus and a Syntomus americanus near the mailbox. My house was around the corner, then down a few houses, so I couldn’t run, get a vial, and come back, so, I had to quickly figure out if I should leave the beetles, or try to collect them somehow since I hadn’t collected either species in over a month in Marion County, but, I also had to be able to carry the mail, and have another free hand to open the front door. So I sat down, with the two carabids in my right hand, and took off my left shoe and sock with my left hand (not my dominant hand), and then popped the two beetles into the sock, and tied off the top so they could not escape easily.
Of course I ended up walking home with one hand holding the mail and the sock, and most of the people in our cul-de-sac had gotten used to seeing things like this coming from me and my friends, but a lady whom I did not recognize, drove to the mailbox, and just stared at me, her facial features contorted in what appeared to be disgust. Yet, in the back seat, was a girl, maybe around 4 or five years old, who was waving frantically out the window. It was, interesting, so I waved back, and went home with two beetles in a sock.

@kitty12 Hello Kitty, I know that an observation can be uploaded to iNat without images or audio, but I personally would prefer to have visual evidence so that it can be research grade. And, I don’t usually upload observations onto my iNat account because my current camera stinks, so I can’t take clear, or even recognizable shots of insects up close, and if I am far away, they are too small to be seen before it becomes clear-ish. I need to save up for a new one, this I know, trust me. @bioedteach has been uploading some images of pinned/preserved specimens that the two of us, as well as B------, K–e, and N—h, have collected in the past year or two. Sorry, I did not add their names because I would want their permission before I add their names on here, and I don’t at the moment.

If any of you have read “The Amature Naturalist” by Gerald Durrell, then you know that one measly sock is nothing compared to his returning home to his mother’s horror, stark naked, because he had used all of the clothing articles on him to hold specimens of all sorts!

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Now that’s being resourceful.

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Hm, yep, I’ve done this with weevils that I found during recess back in early middle school.

This too, and I have forgotten on multiple occasions. : (

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Yep, that memory part can be difficult. i don’t know how many pockets full of plant seeds i’ve had go thru the washer.

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Not entirely correct: You can make casual observations appear on geographical maps.

  • If you search, just un-tick “Verifiable”.
  • On any observation page, use the “layers” (upper right of the map) and tick “Observations w/o media”.
  • Same on a taxon page.
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Have any of you read this?

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If it is tiny, you can put it in the top of your pen then put the pen back in. That should hold it, so long as it isn’t a Bic - they have holes in the end of the top.

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I read a few of his books when I was at school?

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I didn’t know he had more, I’ll need to check that out!

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I’m actually reading my old copy of The Amateur Naturalist now. It’s a great read and I still find it very useful. I’ve always wanted to have a work room like he has drawn. Still working towards that goal.

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Same, my work room is literally just my bedroom, with specimens vials, jars, slides, boxes, supplies, books, you name it, hiding in just about every shelf, drawer, or wall space. And I have little desk space under my loft bed, so I thik I need to rearrange the terrariums!

I’ve noticed that some of the older books are good for reading, and for information, but the species names have changed for many of them, so when I ID something, I look it up to learn more, and it is supposedly non-existent, and I then need to find help! Or it tells you to make a kill jar using poisons that I don’t think are even legal to have without a permit.

Ther owl pellet pages are helpful, though. Same with the dissection info.

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Found a bee I wasn’t familiar with on my bathroom windowsill. It was very sluggish, so I captured it with a small glass and slid a piece of paper under it. Worked out well, because I was able to take pictures of its dorsal and ventral sides before I released it outdoors. I know it’s not a “natural” looking photo, but I got the details.

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He drove his family mad. Writing about US!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Family_and_Other_Animals

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It may seem hard, but you can always do the ecologically respectful thing: Move on and leave nature alone. If you can’t record the observation, it’s a bummer, but nothing more. Don’t go out of your way to swipe nutrients from the soil, or sustenance from a living creature. Collecting is fun, but it is selfish.

I, of course, have a small collection of different (always dead when collected) specimens at my home. Not here to condemn, since I’m also at fault. Only wanted to remind you that insects/everything has a niche to fill and theyre, usually, not fulfilling that role in glass vial, or pinned to a cork board.

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If the specimen produces a reliable identification which supports the habitat being protected instead of built on, I would say it has fulfilled a very worthwhile role.

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I wonder if any of my personal written records would make that possible here in Keizer. I have found a great many uncommon, or less seen Coleoptera species at multiple of the local parks, unfortunately there are also some kids in my area who like to go to the parks, then will smash every insect or arthropod they can find, and they rip branches off trees. A few weeks ago I was at one of my favorite parks which is really close to my house, it was around 4:30 am and I was with a friend, we were trying to record nocturnal moths, carabids, and weevils that we only had recorded dead so far. We were eating our breakfast next to the old beat-up portable saw mill with our UV and mercury vapor traps turned on, we only had one actual light, a small 10 watt LED, and we were watching a bunch of deer who were maybe twenty feet away, and slowly coming closer. They were watching us, and we didn’t mind, there was no adult male with them this time, only the two mothers, and eight fawns(I think that’s what they’re called?) we had seen them there at night and early in the morning many times before, even close to midnight sometimes. This group of deer has gotten so used to us, that the younger ones will sometimes come up to us and check out our bikes, satchels and backpacks, but most of all, our apples that we occasionally have to eat. (Of course, I can’t have apples now with my braces :( but that isn’t the point) And after we had been watching them for a while, they started freaking out, and I mean like full on panicking. This was because there were those kids, running towards the deer, throwing rocks at them again, again, we talked to them and they freaked out a bit this time, because somehow they had not seen us, and we are both a good 2 feet + taller than them.
I really wish that there was some sort of electronic fence out there, that could be put around the entire park, and would only allow people to enter if they were not going to do any cruel harm to the park and it’s inhabitants. That would be cool and nice to have.

Also, when I have large traps like this out, I rarely take more specimens than I need, and usually, I take very few anyways. If it is something specific that I am trying to find, I may even take live specimens to observe later. In this case, I only ended up taking twelve beetle species, all were ones that I had either not yet found in Marion County, they were invasive and cause harm to native species, or they were ones that I had marked for recapture previously to check an approximate distance traveled. So, still, don’t worry, I only ever take the amount needed for whatever study or project I happen to be doing at that time, otherwise, the organism is logged in my field book.

Best regards,

Connor

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I wish that I had had a better camera when I went to Europe in 2019 with @bioedteach and his family, because then some of the species that I logged in that log book, I would have photos of that weren’t totally blurry! Like a lot of Nebria that I can’t find here in the US! AAAAAAAAG! Same with Carabus and a few others! At least when we were in Danmark we were staying with friends who also collect Carabidae, so they have some of the things that we found. But I can’t see them or photograph them from here unfortunately. Oh well, I guess I have another reason to go back! : )

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