rwjx2khsmj Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Does anyone have suggestions for finding roly polies? We usually have plenty of them. Today, because I needed them for science, they've all gone away. Not one roly poly. Not one. And we looked, truly we did. We looked under rocks, bricks, cinder blocks, tires, bags of mulch, logs, sticks, near trees, away from trees, near water, away from water. We looked hard. If you don't have suggestions for finding roly polies, do you have suggestions for what to do to recover when the science lesson depended on the absent roly polies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I don't know where you can find any - other than places you've already mentioned. But I am curious to know what you were going to do with the roly polies. Always looking for science activities with harmless bugs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2GirlsTX Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Perhaps it is just been to dry or wet in your area. Can you go for a walk and check near vacant fields, etc.... I have found when it is hot/dry they are hard to locate. When that is the case, I check dense groundcover or ivy covered areas versus looking under rocks. Happy bug hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Come to my house and take all you want lol. Have you tried looking under rocks or watering around trees? The water may bring them out. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I recommend watering around the base of a tree or around rocks. If there's any poo in the yard, water around it. They tend to be somewhere near. Of course, if you've had a lot of rain, they may have moved to higher ground. We're in an awful drought here. It's so dry I haven't seen a mosquito since May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Does anyone have suggestions for finding roly polies?They are in our pool skimmers. How many would you like? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 We have a gazillion in our backyard. Want me to send you some? :o) Try moistening the ground and putting old leaves under a big rock. They like dead or decaying things. If no polies come to your project rescue, I'd skip it until I saw some and then, QUICK!, get out that experiment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 We could not find any when we were at that point in science either. We checked out books and looked some up online and skipped the experiment. 2 months later, we went to my cousin's graduation party and here come the kids, covered in mud, large grins, "Look mom, roly polies." So dress your kids up and they will find mud and roly polies. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Did anyone else here make it to adulthood without realizing that rolie polies (pillbugs) are actually in the crustacean family? The girls and I were classifying bugs and of course we have 5 million in our yard so that's where we started. And they aren't even real bugs! Anyway, anywhere moist because they use gills to breathe. Can't survive when it's too dry. Good hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fshinkevich Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 We had a hard time at that point in science too, then I discovered them by accident at our local elementary school - there were MILLIONS around the base of all the trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 They are in our pool skimmers. How many would you like? ;) Don't forget the ones in the garden! I cut a head of summer lettuce today that was home to a couple of dozen pillbugs/sowbugs. Sigh, if anyone knows how to get rid of them in the garden without using poisons, please let me know. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Boys Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Don't forget the ones in the garden! I cut a head of summer lettuce today that was home to a couple of dozen pillbugs/sowbugs. Sigh, if anyone knows how to get rid of them in the garden without using poisons, please let me know. GardenMom I was just going to say if she can't find any roly polys this year it's because they're all in my garden eating my beans! I would love to know how to get rid of them too, but I'm guessing I'm just dreaming. They aren't as bad as they were last year when we were experiencing a drought and they migrated to my garden for the moist soil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Did anyone else here make it to adulthood without realizing that rolie polies (pillbugs) are actually in the crustacean family? The girls and I were classifying bugs and of course we have 5 million in our yard so that's where we started. And they aren't even real bugs! Anyway, anywhere moist because they use gills to breathe. Can't survive when it's too dry. Good hunting! I learned that when we were studying science as well. How did we miss that in school?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindygz Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 They are in my house! This year we've had a roly poly invasion. If only I could send them to you express mail. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 It looks like I need to travel to Utah, Virginia or California to find the roly polies. Since that's not happening tomorrow, maybe I'll try the suggestion to dress the kids up and take them out to play. We are going to give it another try, hitting some nearby parks on our way to the science museum tomorrow. I'm using the book Creepy Crawlies and the Scientific Method by Sally Kneidel right now. Roly polies looked like a safe bet, easy catch, no slime, easy to feed. Who knew they'd all be on vacation in Utah, Virginia and California?! I use to teach science to 120 teenagers a day. Now I can't seem to pull together a science lesson for four! What is going on?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 WE FOUND THEM!!! Located a dozen roly polies this afternoon hanging out at the base of a tree. Whew! Science success! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Good. Maybe now they'll quit strolling casually down my sidewalk as if I invited them to come on over and eat my garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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