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On the ground, I see a millipede. Our Wild Child group has been keeping track of all the species we see, so we examine this slow mover. It’s sitting on a leaf, so I pick up the leaf and coax it into crawling on my hand. I explain that millipedes eat decaying leaves, that they have two pairs of legs on each body segment, and that they are among the oldest land animals. I’m explaining too much. What these fourth graders are going to remember is the feel of those little feet crawling on their skin. I mention that if they handle it roughly, it might excrete a yellow liquid on them. Ewww! I invite them to let it crawl across their hand. As it moves slowly from my hand to a fourth-grade hand, I hear the exclamation, “I can feel it crawling!” Then we notice that this little creature has a scar on its back. Did it narrowly escape predation? Who knows, but it reminded me that this millipede may not be the only one moving through here with scars. Handle with care. Good advice for all of us creatures in the Jocassee Gorges. ~Steve Lewis, JWC Instructor and JLT Naturalist Guide