A long story of tropical rainforests, giant centipedes, and one very bitchy teacher.

[Staehilomyces]

Update: I was chosen to give a speech in regards to the Cape York trip for the school assembly, and gave my speech yesterday. If this hadn't have angered the teacher enough, when I was giving a vote of thanks to the teachers who accompanied us on the trip, I gave no mention to her at all. Oh, the look on her face

Just going to add a tiger E. rubripes to my long list of centipedes I want to get

Yeah...they're amazing pedes. Just don't name yours "poisonous insect" when you get it. That name is mine! On the plus side, my class is going on a biology field trip to Moreton Island, where the tiger rubripes is also present (they look a little different, with dark green heads). Here is a link to a photo of one found on the neighboring Stradbroke Island, which is so close to Moreton that is practically certain that they are present there as well: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5136215
What's more, is that the teachers accompanying us on this trip are biology teachers who know me personally, are well aware of my knowledge of these creatures, and who actually teach classes in my year (i.e. not classes that still use crayons and coloring pencils).

 

[MossMan]

Update: I was chosen to give a speech in regards to the Cape York trip for the school assembly, and gave my speech yesterday. If this hadn't have angered the teacher enough, when I was giving a vote of thanks to the teachers who accompanied us on the trip, I gave no mention to her at all. Oh, the look on her face

That is amazing. You know she's gonna hate you for the rest of the time you're at school right?

 

[Staehilomyces]

I don't really care tbh. I'm in grade 11, on the other side of the campus from where she teaches, and I'm quite sure our year is a little sophisticated for someone who's only teaching experience is in grade 7 and below, so she really has no reason to come here.

 

[MossMan]

I don't really care tbh. I'm in grade 11, on the other side of the campus from where she teaches, and I'm quite sure our year is a little sophisticated for someone who's only teaching experience is in grade 7 and below, so she really has no reason to come here.

Lucky. A teacher I hated in grade 8 got moved up to grade 9 the same year I did. We didn't have many friendly exchanges

 

[Staehilomyces]

Yeah. She's literally the only teacher I hate in this school. I actually love it there. In addition, I'm about as scared of her moving into my grade as I would have been of being envenomated by my old Scolopendra morsitans (which is pretty much not at all), as there is a rather significant education level gap between the molecular biosciences, calculus and physical chemistry that I study, and the crayons and colouring books of her teaching experience.

 

[Dovey]

Burning a live animal in front of a class full of students? Yeah, I think that in most schools in the United States, that would get you fired.

How can that poor woman even LIVE in Australia? Heck, y'all have dust bunnies under your beds down there that are deadly venomous! I assumed that living amongst so many fascinating creatures would make you immune to irrational panic responses. Apparently not.

I apologize on behalf of my profession.

 

[Rhysandfish]

I'm just gonna put in a, "HIGH SCHOOLERS HANDLING CENTIPEDES FOR THE WIN!!!!"

 

[Greasylake]

I wish schools here in the U.S. did trips like that, especially since here in Texas we have some beautiful scenery and some pretty interesting wildlife. My biology teacher keeps OW ts and knows all about my inverts as well as my S. Subspinipes and encourages me to get more, so I'm sure if I flipped a rock and found a Scolopendra Heros she'd be just as excited as me. I wish we'd have grown up a little closer because I have a feeling we would have gotten along great lol.

 

[Staehilomyces]

Burning a live animal in front of a class full of students? Yeah, I think that in most schools in the United States, that would get you fired.

How can that poor woman even LIVE in Australia? Heck, y'all have dust bunnies under your beds down there that are deadly venomous! I assumed that living amongst so many fascinating creatures would make you immune to irrational panic responses. Apparently not.

I apologize on behalf of my profession.

Well, as a matter of fact, under her orders, a baby snake had its head hacked open with a rusty machete in front of the class. She said that they had nothing to transport it in for relocation, while sitting on an upturned bin.

 

[patrick nimbs]

Just google Ethmostigmus rubripes. You'll recognise the tiger form. It kinda looks like a more robust, brighter version of polymorpha, except they can get in the same size range as heros. In regards to the detention, I really don't care. I usually stay after school anyway to study. Generally, my only issue with detentions is my parents' reaction, but in this case, they were actually very proud of me. I personally perceive the detention as "okay, you cornered me in this argument, so I'm going to use my power because I am a sore loser!"

Oh, and I'm also making sure that if I ever obtain a tiger rubripes (and an online bug store up in Kuranda does have pedelings which will later be for sale) I will name it "poisonous insect" in honour of the teacher.

The teacher that wanted the centipede killed is essentially a murderer! That centipede was not harming anybody! She would have come off second best if I were in your place, you mark my words mate!! And the detention I would have said “you’re getting double detention for trying to kill an innocent animal”!

 

[patrick nimbs]

I daresay, some of you may have noticed that I have been completely absent from this forum for the last 11 days. This was because I, and 18 other students from my grade, embarked on a trip up to Cape York on an immersion tour to do community work for the local indigenous people. Cape York consists largely of Eucalyptus forest, with pockets of tropical rainforest, and the areas we visited were largely untouched save a few farms and dirt roads. Anyway, onto the centipede part. I had already been known by my whole grade for quite a while as "centipede man" or "the centipede wrangler" due to how I handle centipedes, and occasionally let my friends do so too (as you probably know, all my centipedes, with the exception of my young female E. rubripes, are fully acclimated to being handled and extremely docile). Prior to the trip, I was well aware that I may find the stunning tiger variant of E. rubripes, and on the third day, my wish came true.

After a hard day building a fence for a small dwelling, my classmates and I were invited to do a bit of Aboriginal art. The box of painting equipment was left in a shed, and it had rained the night before. I was the first to reach for a paintbrush, and found the box filled with an all manner of inverts, including a small huntsman, and several strange crickets. I decided to try and get the bugs out and release them, so I started with the huntsman. However, I was in for a shock, as while trying to coax the spider onto my hand, a rather large (~15cm) tiger E. rubripes fell off a nearby paintbrush. Even though I had seen pictures of the tiger rubripes before, nothing prepared me for the centipede's stunning patterning; yellow-orange, with bold dark brown bands across its body. Anyway, onto the funny, though at the time rather upsetting part. My friends around me made a little more racket than I would have liked when I attempted to handle it, and drew the attention of one of the teachers. She took one look, and screamed for me to throw it into a nearby campfire. My friends protested, telling her truthfully that I love centipedes with a very special passion, and have several as pets. The teacher responded "I don't care. I want it dead, and I won't leave until it is." That was enough for me. I asked her why she wanted an innocent creature dead, and that I am an experienced centipede handler. She completely ignored my first question, but her response to the second statement amused me. "I have been teaching my year 6 class about insects for several weeks every year for five years. I think it's safe to bet that I know what I am saying. Are we going to have any more disagreements?" I responded "well...centipedes aren't insects. They have 42 legs, as opposed to six." She responded something along the lines of "just listen to me", but I didn't stop there. She still thought that she knew more than I did, so I bombarded her with scientific terminology, such as the morphology of E. rubripes, the venom composition, and my centipede socialization techniques. She opened her mouth to respond, but by then the commotion had attracted another teacher, who had known me for several years, and he let me release the centipede a good distance away. After handling it for several minutes, I let it go under a log. Upon returning, the er...bitch (and I don't swear often) asked me "what was so fulfilling to you about letting a poisonous (yeah...I know, venomous) bug live? I wanted it dead because it would have made the children safer." I responded "What is so fulfilling about burning a living creature alive in front of an entire class? I released it a safe distance away, and as such, the children are safe, and an animal gets to live another day". She then gave me a detention, which I have to attend on the first day after the holidays At least I know I got to her.

Throughout the rest of the trip, I found four more E. rubripes, and though that teacher never picked on me in regards to centipedes again, she did try her best to embarass me as best as she could for the entire tour. Amusingly, everything she did to make my trip more miserable backfired instantly. She tried to say similar stuff to me nearly every day, always making sure everyone else was listening to embarass me. However, every time, I corrected her sincerely and politely, and she came off looking like a dumbass. She also said I was a danger to myself, and made a rule that I was not allowed to go anywhere without two other students guarding me to make sure I didn't pick up any bugs. That backfired again, as the two students who accompanied me instead functioned as lookouts on my behalf.

So there's my story. And the best part was that my friends now have a newfound respect for centipedes. They are now known as the bug that caused a teacher who would otherwise spoil a trip to become exposed as a fool with not a child's understanding of what she was talking about.

Considering that the teacher called a centipede an insect, she is a really stupid teacher who can’t even recite the alphabet!

 

[patrick nimbs]

I would have informed the darling teechr, "It's venomous. Possessing glands that produce a venom. Not to be confused with the poison you are spewing in the name of teaching." I'd also have got up in her face about having some respect for animals and.... ignore me. I lived for those confrontations and would undoubtedly ended up getting suspended for a week or two.

Should have at least asked if she thought Linnaeus was a something she found in her panties during that time of the month.

Allow me to clue you here. AKA, how the detention room and getting suspended can become old friends. A trick my cuz taught me to deal with putz teachers. Spike the teacher. Helped me on my way into higher education too.
Find an obscure something the teacher of that subject should know. Several somethings. Do your own research. Then practice being a smart mouth. Came easy for me. Then wait for the teacher to putz and blast the sucker. Like asking my english teacher if Chaucer was her hero or my science teacher if he was allergic to Sagan.

Yeah, speaking of school suspensions, I received 20 school days suspension (excluding Saturday and Sunday and any public holiday days) for defending myself against a teacher who was trying to take me on! I gave him 1 king hit and a few smaller punches and yeah, suspended for practically a month!

 

[Staehilomyces]

Well to be fair, a king hit isn't exactly a joke...

 

[patrick nimbs]

Well to be fair, a king hit isn't exactly a joke...

Well, I thought a good thump ought to teach the teacher to think twice before messing with people with the power to injure them!

 

[patrick nimbs]

Well, I thought a good thump ought to teach the teacher to think twice before messing with people with the power to injure them!

And besides, the teacher actually assaulted me and I was merely replying with the “what goes around comes around” as well. Anyway, I am pleased that you released the centipede and displeased the teacher! It was quite funny the way that she tried to embarrass you backfired on her!!

 

[Ratmosphere]

Just seeing this. That teacher sounds like a big loser...

 

[Outpost31Survivor]

It's incredible to think a teacher would conduct a field trip such as this and not possibly be familiar with its local wildlife or do alittle homework before hand. Teaching for several weeks every year for five years only to be shown she herself has learned nothing is disgusting.