Weird bug question? Saskatoon zookeeper may have the answer

For years, friends and family of Chantelle Edwards have been asking her to identify strange beetles, unusual birds and even roadkill.

Edwards, a zookeeper at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo, is now stretching out her expertise to the public and is fielding questions on her Prairie Whatsits Facebook page.

"They're hard to look up sometimes," she said. "They don't have the field guides at home, and they know I'm nerdy, so they'll send me a photo."

Edwards said there are many exotic insects in Saskatchewan, if you know where to look. The current featured beetle on the Prairie Whatsit page is an Ambush Bug. The tiny insect can take down a full-sized moth or butterfly, even though it's a third the size as a fingernail.

"How cool is that in Saskatchewan?" she asked. "A lot of people, when they think of exotic bugs, they think of tropical places. But we have some pretty stuff around here too."

Edwards has been interested in odd insects and spiders for years. With three tarantulas at home, Edwards says insects are often misunderstood.

"A lot of times they're scared of them because they don't understand them," she said. "The more I started looking into them, the more they became fascinating to me."

Prairie Whatsits is still looking for pictures of strange Saskatchewan beasts to identify. For a link to the page, click here.