BECAUSE YOU ASKED
Q: At this time of year, my cat catches large beetles with shells that are striped like sunflower seeds. The beetles hiss when they are annoyed. What kind of bug is this?
A: Those are ten-lined June beetles. They are not harmful but do make a noticeable hissing noise. The beetles are attracted to lights and have been known to fly into window screens and scare people. Adult beetles eat rotten fruit and tree sap, while larvae live underground and feed on plant roots but do not tend to do damage.
The Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster has a temporary changing exhibit of household insects, and if you want to take the beetle to the pavilion, it may be added to the temporary display.
Sources: Kristina Williams, Butterfly Pavilion curator; Whitney Cranshaw, entomology professor, CSU Cooperative Extension
Q: Is it true that the Lakeside roller coaster once flew into the lake, killing people?
A: There was no accident at Lakeside Amusement Park in which the roller coaster flew into the lake and killed people.
On Sept. 5, 1994, there was an accident in which 24 people were taken to hospitals after a roller-coaster car at the park slammed into another car that was halted at a station. According to an administrator at Lutheran Hospital, most injuries were relatively minor.
The worst disaster at a Colorado amusement park occurred in 1944, when six people died at Elitch Gardens amid thick smoke and flames that erupted on the “Old Mill” ride, a tunnel of love.
Amusement-park accidents are reported every year to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the state agency that oversees park registration. The accidents range from common bumps and bruises to the unusual broken bones, whiplash and more serious injuries.
Sources: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; Denver Post archives; Lakeside Amusement Park
– Bonnie Gilbert
HAVE A QUESTION?
Have you ever wondered how to register your child for school? What a political caucus is and how to get information about one? How many “fourteeners” Colorado has? If you’d like information about something in the state outside Denver, send questions by e-mail to becauseyouasked@denverpost.com or mail to Because You Asked, Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202. Include your name, city of residence and phone number.
REGIONAL NOTES
AURORA
Illustrator’s works on display
The Aurora History Museum is hosting an exhibit of works created by children’s book illustrator David Diaz.
The exhibit runs through Aug. 6 and will feature 50 illustrations by Diaz from the books “Smoky Night” and “Wilma Unlimited,” among others. Two pieces of his pottery also will be on display.
Admission is free. For more information, call 303-739-6666 or go to auroramuseum.org.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Fundraiser for suicide prevention
The Second Wind Fund, which provides emergency counseling for students considered at risk for suicide, will hold its fifth annual walk/run/ride Sept. 24. The event, which will include a family bike ride, begins at Green Mountain Presbyterian Church, at West Mississippi Avenue and West Alameda Parkway.
To preregister, go to thesecondwindfund.org.
DENVER POST STAFF REPORTS
