Petey the Millipede

The wife is always having tiny adventures with the fauna that haunt her orchids. The flowers aren't rare, nor have they been specially cultivated, according to the people she's talked to at orchid shows.

Still, they are dear to her heart and she's declared war on any creatures that would dare to munch on the plants.

She's waged a campaign on slugs, and believe you me, they didn't stand a chance. She's even gone out in the darkness of night to find them, and when she does, she flips them onto the ground and pours salt on their slimey bodies.

Have you ever seen what salt does to a slug? It ain't pretty. They just melt away in a puddle of ooze.
Recently, she's discovered what she calls orchid worms. On closer examination, they're not worms at all; they're millipedes. Lots of little legs. Lots and lots and lots. Lots.

The wife is mean to them. She brushes them onto a leaf and drops them on the hot driveway, where they curl up like miniature sausages in a frying pan.

So, to make a long story short, I had to look up information for her on the 'Net (ain't Google wonderful?). Millipedes, I told her, don't eat orchids. They don't even eat orchid leaves unless the leaves are dead. Millipedes make their living munching on dead plant matter.

Will that change her attitude? We'll just have to see. Petey the millipede is anxiously awaiting her decision.