Last night, I was sitting in my rocking chair, knitting, (of all things!), when I looked across the room and saw “something” on a wall quilt. Bothered as to what the spot was, that appeared dark on a light background, I stood up to investigate the matter. I reached up and was going to brush the “dust” off, when all of a sudden I realized that it was a “Daddy Long Legs”…baby. I gently tapped the quilt and he skittered off, and onto the wallpaper.
I didn’t really want to kill this creature. First of all, I think that Daddy Long Legs are pretty neat, and secondly, I do hate to kill babies!
That reminds me of the time I came across a newly hatched batch (litter?) of garden snakes. My mother, who despised any wild critter of any kind, was standing in the driveway nearby, telling me to kill the snakes with a shovel. I refused. Snakes are generally beneficial. For one thing, they keep down the rodent population.
Our wildlife is really mixed up, especially in cities. Only recently did we begin seeing bears in people’s backyards, or on their porches, or in some cases, breaking into homes. All of the building construction is driving animals and birds from their natural habitats and causing us to see animals we have never seen before, this far north, like the opossum.
There are certain insects that I definitely murder: hornets, wasps, and the faux ladybug beetles that emit that awful yellow-orange stain on textiles, that is so difficult to get out. Other than those exceptions, I pretty much attempt to co-exist with nature’s creatures, both great and small. Two legged creatures…well, that is a story for another day! 
This has been your somewhat quilt-related, textile-related, definitely bug-related, very opinionated essay. Have a great evening!
Patricia
