Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
My worst fear was realized! The day after I reported to you my worry about an ant dying in the Sea-Monkey tank – it happened. Fortunately Part II of my worst-case scenario did not come to pass. The drowning of the ant did not appear to have any effect on the tank's inhabitants. Whew.
The other threat, bug poison, was not a factor either. The exterminator guy managed to confine his death-dealing to the non-aquatic insects in the building, so the Sea-Monkeys were unaffected. I moved them away from the windowsill for the duration of the spraying, just in case.
The exterminator paused to relate an amusing story about a woman in a million dollar mansion who expected him to rid her of a serious mouse infestation without killing any of the rodents. "I'm an exterminator," he told her. "I haven't perfected my piping skills well enough to lead them down the road out of town," is what he says he wishes he'd said.
So, back to the Sea-Monkeys. I still have the three females and two males. The good news is on the Generation B front. The babies in the tank appear to be maturing a bit beyond the little perishable specks that have come and gone since Generation A first began to get randy. There are quite a few young 'uns in the tank that are visible from a distance, so I'm hoping that a new group will grow up by the time the rest of the old fogies kick the bucket.
I had almost forgotten how cute the babies are, swimming around in jerky little spirals. They haven't reached the more graceful stage with all the waving, translucent...whoa! Big Sea-Monkey fight!!! I was gazing at them for inspiration when all of a sudden the largest male attacked the other male in the midst of mating. He is hassling the pair relentlessly. Meanwhile, two apparently undesirable females are going about their business unhindered and un-lusted for. Sea-Monkeys have all the social sophistication of a biker gang.
Suddenly, the high male Sea-Monkey mortality rate doesn't seem like such a mystery. Cool the testosterone, boys!
Special same-day Sea-Monkey update:
Mr. Sore Loser Sea-Monkey has swallowed his pride and is now busily engaged in invertebrate intercourse with one of the previously rejected females. Classy, dude.
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