Saw the quake in the news. Terrible stuff.
Remember that episode of Samurai Champloo where they have beetles fight and they bet on it? I wonder if they really do that. If they did I could see me and my friends raising battle beetles!
I'm sort of entomophobic so I would definetely not keep these ugly beats as my pet. I wouldn't even dare to lay my fingers on it! Just yesterday I was left aghast when some peculiar thing flew into my room, buzzing and while apparentely being in state of confusion, throwing itself against my walls. Seconds later I discovered the horrible truth - a cockhafer! After a short scuffle I finished it off with my kanji excercise book but before I commenced this feat, it had managed to touch me!! So disgusting! ^_^
The kids use them for Pokemon battles once they acquire the Beetles ^^;
@rogie ummm sounds stupid but may i ask what a cockhafer is ?
quick google: sort of a europian beetle.. hmm
*European - sorry :)
Sad news about the death from the earthquakes. When I went to a super store in Hong Kong I saw beetles being sold as pets as well with all the stupid accessories they "need". Bringing back old school beetle fights are apparently gaining popularity, kids are probably tired of the digital ones lol.
The kids use them for Pokemon battles once they acquire the Beetles ^^; Yea, these beetles are basically where the pokemon creator got his concept from. Catch, train(feed i guess), battle, trade! xP
Beetles no, spiders yes =D My gf wouldn't let me though^^ @windbell: nice one XD
No, I think I will stay with the old fashion pets choices. ^^; I guess beetles are a big business in Japan.
Bleh. I prefer my pets of the barking variety.
I remember seeing a stag beetle arcade game, were you train em to fight. Maybe thats part of the reason why people like to keep them as pets? I can understand why people keep dogs, cats or birds but insects dont do anything. Unless your like Agitha from twilight princess ^^;
Danny I'm sure youve seen the mushi arcade games, but its basically that. People buy and train stag bettles to fight each other in "sumo" wrestling. They have tournaments and stuff for cash prizes. Its basically like pokemon except real life ;p
I sure hope the radioactive leak won't hit these little fellas. Don't wanna see these things becoming larger than an Airbus A380 and go Starship Troopers upon Tokyo.
I think is more fun have a tamagochi than a beetle but ok, maybe i don´t understand the loyalty, cheerful and joy of having a insect
these beetles were also a big hype when i was a primary school kid- but didn't manage to catch one though.
This petshop won't happen to be in the Meguro area would it Danny...it looks really familiar haha.
the japanese has this fascination with insect collecting. in fact, the Pokemon creator, Satoshi Tajiri, is his favorite past-time as a child. selling bugs at your local supermarket kills the fun of hunting insects...
yeah.. we hunt spiders at night here in the Philippines and fight the next day.. :)
I used to keep these as pets when I was younger. Easy to keep. Just throw some watermelon/fruit in as food and you are good to go, and yes we did fight them. First time posting but couldn't pass on this one:)
beetles plus radiation = kaiju movie. no props needed XD
If you watched Samurai Champloo one of the main characters trains one of these to fight so that he could gamble on it. If I had one I would do the same thing :0. Anyways Danny do you think you could send me an email? I kinda want to ask you something.
Beetles + human = Kamen Rider Kabuto "Earthquake = sad"
Speaking of insects, it seems that they have an ability to predict earthquakes. I once saw a kid with a praying mantis in Japan. He let it crawl all over his face and everything.
hmmm... insert mushiking commercial here. ^^ http://www.mushiking.com/ ^^
Insects just creep me out. So I'm definitely not getting one of those. You won't even see me within 50 feet from that thing. hahah!
I'd prefer letting them roam in the wild. Interaction with them would be very limited even if they need little maintenance. Every time I see a small insect (such as a single ant) or a rather small, inoffensive spider in the house and I can catch it, I put it on a piece of paper and let it go out. No, no squishing, no call for the exterminator. ^_^; Yeah, even for stag beetles, I would be tempted to set them free and smile as they return to the wildlife...
..."Also wonder if kids do evil things to these beetles once they got them like stick them in a microwave or dishwasher." Don't give people bad ideas, now *laughs* Yup, I've got no problems with animals. Earthworms, spiders, millipedes, snakes, rats and so on, I like them. (Do I hear "Ewww!" in the assistance? Thanks!) The only ones I can't stand are mosquitoes (stupid, annoying, stalking, useless buggers ^^;).
achraf1989@ erm, typo - it's spelled cockchafer, it's also called may bug or may beetle in colloquial speech. In my mother tongue we call it 'chroust' but that won't probably help you :) Basically it's a middle sized black flying bug that wakes up and comes into action when the outside temperature is good enough to accommodate its needs, which is usually like around May here :)
I've seen videos of these things. There are even competitions with battles between 2 or more beetles. It's actually cool to see them fight. They don't kill each other but they have to get the other one off its feet.
Those are still 'acceptable' as compared to people who keep Tarantula and scorpions as pets. Haha~
I don´t like bugs, because their legs creeps me. Beetles are worst. Though I like rats, snakes and scorpions...
My god, I saw so much of this while I was in Japan, made me want to play Mushihime again... I dunno about myself tho, I think I'd prefer a goldfish.
Hmm, not a big fan of insects.. I love japanese dogs though, they're very cute! especially Shikoku and Shiba ^^'
keeping beetles as pets sure is a weird interest :|. I hate beetles, or insects in general :|
Cool! I would get a Kabuto Mushi as a pet when in Japan, but the family I'm to be staying with has a dog, so theirs a risk of the Mushi being eaten... heh. Also, I've just gotten the horrible image of someone eating one of them instead of salad 0_0 .
Beetles... I'm afraid it'd get out of its case or something, so I probably wouldn't keep one.
I've noticed this Japanese fascination with Stag Beetles. Well, Japanese Children. They even make videogames where you fight using your powered up beetle a.k.a Mushi King on the DS. Interesting.
thanks for the information about the quake o_o; I saw the beetles for sale at the pet section o_o;
For A Second there danny I thought u would have tried to be a little funny & made the page about some tamagotchi lol Just kidding matey ;) beetles FTW shame J.Lennon is no longer with us! whats that? wrong beetle you say? ah f**k!
i wouldn't mind keeping one as a pet. there isn't a big risk of getting bitten or poisoned as compared to owning a spider. I remember how as a kid growing up back in the Phiilippines, you would see vendors around elementary schools selling spiders. kids would buy em and make em fight in a sumo-style match. in all i think its helpful to get kids to engage with something interactive with nature rather than letting them play video games all day.
Very unique line of pet although I'd never see myself raising one. My across-the-street neighbor used to have odd pets like these too. Always wondered how he fed them.
We eat beetles here. Fry 'em crispy in soy sauce, tomatoes, black pepper.
For me they are amazing, here in italy are so rare that find justy a little one is big luck! We haven't the culture to take them as pets but most people like a lot, as i do!^^ Do i like have one of this in home? Maybe not. But see more of them when i'll go camping? Please yes! .:G:.
always saw those in games only. thanx for the pics.
Condolences to the injured and lives lost in the quake... How much longer till the Earth's crust finally settles its place? Glad to hear you're still in 1 piece Danny. Subject at hand... Beetles as cleaner and cooler looking as they are compared to cockroaches do excrete during battle. D: No kidding, there are lots of em here they know where to lay their waste. However if you manage to catch one (or several) and contain it (like keep it settled on your hand, encase it on some box or make them wrestle) after like 10mins + it'll eventually let it's crap out.
guh, don't like bugs, how much money to spend to buy a beetle?. and i;m sorry for those who injured and lost their life. glad to know the blog maker(u) safe
Thats terrible news-about the earthquake. Collecting beetles seems to be popular with the kids and some adults over in Japan. I heard they even have an annual beetle festival. And the Pokémon media franchise creator, Satoshi Tajiri was supposedly inspired by insect collecting.
They definitely do have beetle battles: http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2379
I don't understand why people would want a rat...but I'd totally buy a Beetle. I guess I'm into really unconventional pets! (Praying Mantis anyone? His name was Trent). Beetle can play with things? HOW? I need to see a video of that!
Ever see the video of the Giant hornet vs a Mantis? That's one hell of a weakness the mantis has xD Kudos to that hornet for taking full advantage of its capabilities. (google it if you have not seen it)
to Smokie they do have beetle wrestling. They usually use stags and rhino beetles. I would say Im definetly into entomology and love all insects, but the beetles are by far my favorites. I consider them the tanks of the insect world. There just so strong and carry all that armor. They make me think of the Tachikomas and other mech designs that come from the insect world. Fantastic, living in Florida, Ive seen a few stags and rhinos here, but nothing compared to the size of how they grow in Japan. Truly amazing
I have catch a beetle when I was in Thailand about 2-3 years ago after that I set it free. ^^"
o i would love to get my hands on those beetles. I study entomology and have random pets mostly of the small variety. Too bad ur not allow to ship those out.
stag beetles lols, wonder how much it would cost, mightt get me on of'em
I found two beetles in my garden so I kept them in a container with dirt and rocks n small plants etc etc, fed them other bugs I found around. I also had a different container with some worms, so I decided to move the beetles to that container. The beetles dug through the dirt, hunted the worm down, and ate it alive. Even though the beetles ate more than half of it, the worm was still trying to escape. I also had a pet wolf spider and called her Shelob, afitting name since it was huge. (for a wolf spider at least)
