Jurassic Ark: The AES

i had a FANTASTIC DAY!
I was aware that i was going to have a good day when i ordered a tea at the train station and i got this...

and these..

so there i was drinking my brilliant (yet overpriced tea) and after getting off at Teddington i had the most insatiable urge to urinate. After 10 minutes of fruitless public convenience searching (and finding a drinking establishment comically named the 'Bloated Mallard' (which was unfortunately closed at this untimely hour) i weighed up my options do i wait and have a wee at the show (knowing i will be in the line for an hour) or suck it up and find a corner to wee in? and so like a drug peddler i searched for the darkest most secluded alley or corner i could find. Unfortunately for me Teddington (at least in the stations vicinity) is quite a suburban area and i feared that flopping out my member would cause numerous female types to swoon and scream 'Think of the children'' so i was forced to relieve myself within the station itself. Looking as auspicious as i tried not to be i sauntered into a darkened corner and felt my bladder thank me 'cheers mate i'll be good for a few more hours.

Eventually i reached the AES (Amateur Entomologist Society) show.
In the line i befriended a 16 year old called Ryan who i bestowed my life's wisdom on regarding inverts, which he lapped up like an eager yet slightly terrified puppy, and after 45 minutes or so we got in, my hand was stamped and in I went.
And this is what i saw...

Lots of Arachnid's

Lots of pinned stuff

The thing is i usually look at pinned bug's and feel a little sad, but after keeping bugs and pinning them myself (although mine die a natural death not a chemical based one) and the fact i'm currently decorating my room in a neo-Victorian style, i have really begun to appreciate them. But today I was on a budget so i couldn't spend all my money on décor. Even if there are stalls like this one...

Giant barnacles, Nautilus shells, urchins, fossils, shells and even horseshoe crabs (which i would of picked up if they didn't smell of fish). All perfect for my room...alas not today i thought as i thought the impuslsive 5 year old within 'i have bills to pay and things i need to do' i begrudgenly explained.

What i was here for was one of 2 things:
Mantid's :

Of which there was shit loads! picked up 6 baby Dereplytus dessicata for a clean crisp £10 note and some fruitflies (which my mum hates because they get into her wine)
and some leaf insects (i'll take pictures after work) in all i spent £22 although i could of easilly spent 10 times that if i had the money.

After the show i had planned to go and see my girlfriend and then the transition began, i was no longer a 'entomological enthusiast with an interest in praying mantids' i was 'the freak on the train with strange stuff in his bag'.

At one point one of my leaf insects began to moult en route (movement whist moulting can cripple them) and so i had to use my mad bug skills and a pen to sort him out so he didn't end up in the bin.

The fact is i was so engrossed in helping out this unfortunate little critter i was oblivious to the hoards of eyes that were staring at me with an inquisitive caution as if they were watching a 5 year old girl swinging round a battle axe.
looking up and seeing a carriage load of people staring at you is obviously a bit intimidating, so i broke the tension by passing them around (the old bloke sitting opposite was mightily pleased, but the 5 year old boy in front just peered over the back of his seat and his gaze bore into my soul...

And the ticket man comes along 'tickets please', so i handed him my orange striped permit to travel on the locomotive device, he clipped it, and passed it back, and i gained this cheeky little fellow :D