What do you find in a woodpile, besides wood? Anyone who spends only a couple of minutes thinking about it will come up with the straightforward answer: bugs. And yes, that’s what I find in our woodpile. I’ve found beetles, worms, millipedes, spiders, scorpions, rats, slugs, earwigs, and even a couple of salamanders. I shouldn’t have been surprised, then, when a huge black widow came crawling over the log I was putting into the fireplace just now. Shouldn’t have been.
At least I didn’t let out a scream. I’ll cop to a shudder, though, and a renewed determination to wear gloves while I’m building the fire, not just when I’m tending it. Ugh.
Rats aren’t bugs.