When you see a spider or a house centipede (as I did on the wall by the steps recently) after turning on the light to go downstairs and don’t even think of screaming.
You think to yourself, cuz hubby is asleep, “cool bug, I need to get a baggie to capture it in” after I get my iPhone to use SEEK to ID him/her. It’s changed how I look at bugs and especially spiders! I love the jumping spiders the best! They are so cute!!! When my 2nd oldest daughter saw a jumping spider on the floor of our garage over 25+ years ago, she immediately jumped on my back! I bent down to lightly touch the spider a few times to move him out of the footpath and to a safer place and all the time she’s screaming at me telling me that they bite. Then she notices that since I was bent over, she is now sliding forward on my back and getting closer to the spider!!! Freaking out even more I finally move “her” to a safer place. Since I have spiders in my entomology collection, only one sample or pair per species, I showed her daughter, age 7, my spiders and told her not to tell her mom because she freaks out. Of course the daughter immediately yells, “Hey mom, come here!” and shows her the biggest ones I have. Grandchildren! 
Love them lots! And so unpredictable!
She’s actually quite cute 
When twice in the same day your coworker walks up and says “I have a creature for you” and hands you a live insect
…when you swim across a river to collect a plant, and nearly kill yourself trying to swim back while holding the plant above the water, all so you can photograph it later
Commitment right there!!
@arboreteum_amy haha were they cute insects at least? :D
- Your phone suggests scientific names instead of regular words. “Hello, Homo sapiens, how’s your day?”
- You plan routes based on potential iNat discoveries, not just the quickest way to your destination.
- Your daily routine includes checking iNat’s Explore page before your morning coffee.
…when…
You can’t see the forest, because you’re too busy searching the app to correctly ID your observation…
… you can recreate your hikes from observations (and take pictures while your hiking partner is catching their breath)
Several years ago my husband and I were walking up from the lake with our nets and supplies towards our car. Almost as we reached the end of the paved path I spotted a young “kid” (mid-teens) with a khaki vest “of many pockets.” Since he was bent over looking in some vegetation, I asked him what he was looking for? He turns around quickly as I think we scared him 🫨 and sees a 60-something older lady (me) and was shocked then surprised! He started talking about assassin bugs and I mentioned the ones I had. He gets even more excited the more we talked! “Gosh, I never thought I’d meet another person interested in insects also.” I mentioned “entomologist” and he says,”Yeah!” At the end I asked him how he manages to arrange the legs of his insects and I was shocked at his response. He says he glues them on the way they’re supposed to be! 
“What?” I gently advised him that that’s not the proper way to pin insects, yet I doubt he’ll change his methods. So young and so much to learn. There’s still time and hopefully he’ll get better!
You have to admit, this was a relatively shorter post from my usual long posts. There’s hope for me too!!!
Still Cathy 
…when you break your toe running in a mad dash to get your camera because you see a hawk out the window. But I still got the shot of the Cooper’s Hawk!
Btw not playing I really broke my toe
Feel better!
…when you stop an entire dog training class to exclaim over a rhinoceros beetle you want a photo of that is dead in the parking lot.
Bonus points if you attempt to then pick it up to take with you, only to set it back down quickly proclaiming “too many ants.”
Yeah, since I got the photo its all worth it!
On a tour of a potential wedding venue, you notice a couple of bugs hanging out on the windowsill hundreds of feet in the air, sooooo naturally you start making observations. I think my fiancee’s eyes were going to roll out of her head and the event organizer was a little freaked out when I mentioned I liked the bugs in the venue
Early congratulations on the big day 
Ha! We just did that Saturday!
If the insect is still in good condition, I’d just plop the insect and ants in a baggie, which I always have several with me in my purse or pockets, and seal it up. Then I Sharpie the date, location and other important data on the baggie and put it in the freezer. Problem solved plus you can add the ants to your observations. I have several baggies in the freezer now.
When my daughters were younger they were never shocked to see critters in the freezer. I first froze their pet goldfish so they could be buried together if it had a tank mate. No flushing of fish at our house! We gave each a proper burial and I made the cutest little caskets! Mine were made of white cardboard packaging, unfolding small boxes and regluing them so the white side was out. The girls could decorate them and we tossed a few flowers on top and buried them with headstones. We buried pet birds 
, fish 
and gerbils:hamster:! The girls decided where to bury them in the yard themselves. When they got older, they’d just say, “Flush!” for the fish.
I use baggies or nets for all my insects I collect. Spiders are easiest as they just drop down, into the opened baggie I hold underneath. After ID-ing them, if I don’t have that species, I’ll add alcohol to preserve it in a glass vial. If I already have the species, he gets released. Same with every insect I collect. No need to collect any more than a pair, if I’m even that lucky. 
Happy OBs! Cathy
You’re trying to talk to fiance on the phone without tipping off that you are also trying to get a picture of a rat at the same time on the way home from work
Wait - shouldn’t your fiance know exactly how dedicated to iNat you are before the wedding? (I’m mostly joking, but also not joking a little bit.)
For me, it would depend on the conversation topic… some topics, it would be ok to be “distracted” by a rat. Some, that would seem rude. (In his opinion.)