Like, legally of course. You might just see a bug or a mouse or something and say "You're my pet now" or "I'm gonna feed this little thing to my bigger thing."
Here's a story if you wanna read. If not, just share some cool stories or sumtin wit me. The whole story below is about my new buddy, Bart the Dung Beetle...
I used to try and do this as a kid, but wasn't capable of caring for a lot of animals, especially insects, and was always forced to release them. Today, I was outside on my deck washing a large plastic tray with the hose, and when I first went to turn the hose on, the dog's water bowl next to the knob had a dead stinkbug in it and another bug I'd never seen before. I do something similar to taxidermy where I use dead insects and bones etc for art/jewelry, and thought that this weird bug would make an awesome addition to my collection. Before I could even poke it, its legs started kickin. I was like, "oh, it looks a lil weak." "It's drownin, bugs have difficult and short lives anyways. I'll let it drown and come back for it." I went to cleaning, kept thinkin bout the bug, kept feelin bad. Finally rescued it, and put it in some Rubbermaid for the time being. Bug was still alive later, google searched it based on appearances, turns out that it was a male Rainbow Scarab beetle, aka a type of Dung Beetle, native to my area along with the rest of the southern and eastern United states. Looks pretty exotic for a bug native to NA if you ask me. Anyways, I think he's really cool, and I still want his remains (I am such a terrible person lmao). I imagine they're hard to find. Not many people sell them for cheap, and these guys live underground where they probably die too. Anyways, I moved him to my secure, safe, and insect friendly hermit crab terrarium from way back. He has a hidey log, a food bowl, and a sponge bowl for additional moister. I named him Bartholomew. Bart likes somewhat moist areas to hide in, and he likes to be under things. He has plenty of sand to dig in, but he chose to eat and sleep under the lettuce I gave him. Big surpise to me, Dung Beetles will eat things that aren't dung. They also enjoy some mushrooms, veggies, and fruit. As long as it's kinda rotting. Bart seems to be doing well on his first day. He prefers to run around in the dark.
If it ever seems like his health is declining, or he isn't eating though, I'll be sure to release him. As much as I like Bart, I'm too nice to kill him or let him die because I'm a bad mommy. There is no way for me to tell how old Bart is though, and unfortunately Dung beetles rarely live a full life. Dung beetles CAN live up to 5-6 years, but whether they're in the wild or in a lab, they usually pass after a year. I have confidence in myself though. My whole family has dealt with raising, rehabilitating, and rescuing animals and insects for years. Wish me luck though, cuz it's gonna be Bart's (very short) life >_>
Here's a story if you wanna read. If not, just share some cool stories or sumtin wit me. The whole story below is about my new buddy, Bart the Dung Beetle...
I used to try and do this as a kid, but wasn't capable of caring for a lot of animals, especially insects, and was always forced to release them. Today, I was outside on my deck washing a large plastic tray with the hose, and when I first went to turn the hose on, the dog's water bowl next to the knob had a dead stinkbug in it and another bug I'd never seen before. I do something similar to taxidermy where I use dead insects and bones etc for art/jewelry, and thought that this weird bug would make an awesome addition to my collection. Before I could even poke it, its legs started kickin. I was like, "oh, it looks a lil weak." "It's drownin, bugs have difficult and short lives anyways. I'll let it drown and come back for it." I went to cleaning, kept thinkin bout the bug, kept feelin bad. Finally rescued it, and put it in some Rubbermaid for the time being. Bug was still alive later, google searched it based on appearances, turns out that it was a male Rainbow Scarab beetle, aka a type of Dung Beetle, native to my area along with the rest of the southern and eastern United states. Looks pretty exotic for a bug native to NA if you ask me. Anyways, I think he's really cool, and I still want his remains (I am such a terrible person lmao). I imagine they're hard to find. Not many people sell them for cheap, and these guys live underground where they probably die too. Anyways, I moved him to my secure, safe, and insect friendly hermit crab terrarium from way back. He has a hidey log, a food bowl, and a sponge bowl for additional moister. I named him Bartholomew. Bart likes somewhat moist areas to hide in, and he likes to be under things. He has plenty of sand to dig in, but he chose to eat and sleep under the lettuce I gave him. Big surpise to me, Dung Beetles will eat things that aren't dung. They also enjoy some mushrooms, veggies, and fruit. As long as it's kinda rotting. Bart seems to be doing well on his first day. He prefers to run around in the dark.
If it ever seems like his health is declining, or he isn't eating though, I'll be sure to release him. As much as I like Bart, I'm too nice to kill him or let him die because I'm a bad mommy. There is no way for me to tell how old Bart is though, and unfortunately Dung beetles rarely live a full life. Dung beetles CAN live up to 5-6 years, but whether they're in the wild or in a lab, they usually pass after a year. I have confidence in myself though. My whole family has dealt with raising, rehabilitating, and rescuing animals and insects for years. Wish me luck though, cuz it's gonna be Bart's (very short) life >_>