just because...

... you don't read something here every single day about millipedes, does not mean they are not arriving for the early morning head count.  I am still picking them up off the floor at what would normally be an alarming rate. Sadly, I have become so acclimated to this invasion as a part of my morning routine, I just pinch them up and toss in the trash.

It occurs to me that I should be alarmed by the fact that I am not alarmed. Astounding that I have become so inured to their presence, I am no longer squeamish about touching the buggy little creatures.  But still put off by the way my fingers smell when I've deposited a dozen or so either in the toilet or trash. Like other insects that have camouflage or distracting coloration, I guess the awful odor is their way of preventing consumption by predators. If I had not finally become so irritated by their presence that I no longer go for the dustpan and broom, I would not know they are stinky. But stink they do.

So just because you are not reading something daily about the unwarranted invasion, does not by any means indicate they are  not setting up housekeeping in my kitchen. I do occasionally find them elsewhere: recently several deceased ones were curled up like little spirals in the drain basket in the bathtub. And I get reports of them being in the master bath,  mostly dead. But they continue to assume ownership where they are not paying rent or contributing to real estate taxes.