So tonight I head into the garage on my way out for a jog, and I notice out of the corner of my eye these sort of..big..shapes I guess? That's the only way I can describe it, my vision from a distance is terrible, they just looked like blobs to me. But they were right where my dad had put these scorpion traps. The traps themselves are these sticky little thin pieces of material that if basically anything small walks over, it's stuck there, for good. I hated the idea when my dad put them there, but what can I say? He's my father and he got bit by a scorpion, I'd feel stupid telling him, "But what about the little bugs that get caught and die there?" I love my dad, but he wouldn't care anyway and would look at me like I'm a damn fool. Even a week or so back I had seen a cricket stuck in one, and tried to break it free with a rock. Sounds absolutely retarded and was, but I was hoping if I just sort of..slid it under him maybe I could lift him up. Well..basically it sort of worked. Only it ripped him up in half and left the other stuck on the sticky trap. Mortified, I quickly realized I had to put the poor thing out of its misery and just smash it. I felt bad but..I mean I'm not going to lie I can't really cry over a bug. I'm not even sure if they experience pain or suffering, or if he even felt it.
So anyway, I look over and quickly realize something is wrong. I run over and bam, to my shock, a family of lizards(or at least appeared that way, two bigger ones and a baby, who knows) is stuck to the trap. I just look at it in shock. Maybe to most people this would mean little or nothing, but holy fuck was I pissed. I just walked away basically screaming fuck, shit, and god fucking damnit over and over. This was all my dads fault, that these innocent little guys had walked across this stupid death trap and starved or were dehydrated to death. At least that's what I thought.
I was honestly hoping they were dead, cause I couldn't deal with them being alive. Knowing I didn't know how to get them off, if there even was a way. And what would that mean? I'd have to kill them to avoid their suffering. So I walk back, bend over and touch them all to see if they react. And of course, all alive, all wiggle their tail in some vain attempt to escape.
So at this point I'm basically freaking out. I really, really do not want to hurt and kill these things. So..my only idea is to literally wake up my mom at 1 in the morning to ask for help. I do so and she's glad to help. I knew she would be like she always is whenever time of day, but I still felt bad about doing it. So she tells me calmly all we gotta do is pour a little vegetable oil on them and pull them off. At this point I'm feeling some hope and we head into the garage to try.
So my mom pours it on them as I have no idea how much or where to do it. So I start pulling on the big one, making sure to do my best to be gentle. The entire time I'm thinking to myself "oh god if this thing comes off without its arms or legs or head I'm going to lose it" Then bam..a miracle, in my eyes anyway, it just slides right off! That right there, was the best feeling ever. I felt so good. It felt right, like this is me, this is what I want with my life even if its at such a small scale..to save animals. I let the little guy go next to me and he stays a bit too my surprise. I figured either it was in shock, or maybe it was waiting for his friends? Thats what I want to believe anyway.
So I finish getting the other two off, and I'm thanking my mom over and over for helping me and everything. Then I see the three of them sort of scatter off together and it was just a perfect ending. After that my mom said to get rid of the traps and I did, and she then headed to bed and I went out for my jog, feeling like I saved the world.
So...that's the end of my little story, I know it's silly but maybe someone out there could relate a little. Thanks for reading.