Chocolate-covered cravings

By Kevin Cullen
Journal and Courier
Sunday, April 9, 2006

(By Michael Heinz/Journal and Courier) Hillary Moore of Fowler expectorates a cricket during the cricket-spitting contest at Bug Bowl Saturday during Spring Fest at Purdue University in West Lafayette. Moore spit this cricket 14 feet, 1.5 inches.

PURDUE'S BUG BOWL: How to spit a cricket The cricket-spitting contest has always been one of the highlights of Bug Bowl and Spring Fest. Nathan Weaver, 13, of Westfield, placed first in his division lst year with a blast of more than 18 feet. "My dad said, 'Just put it in your mouth and curl your tongue,' " he said. "When you throw your head forward, it goes farther." The dead crickets, with no chocolate coating, fly further if launched head-first. Weaver's father, Tom, spat one nearly 20 feet on Saturday. The senior men's record is 37 feet, 9 inches. He placed third in the watermelon seed spitting contest at the 2004 Indiana State Fair. "A seed is a lot easier than a cricket," he said. "You can roll it in your tongue and shoot it like a dart. Crickets are bulkier; you need to wet them down real good." -- Kevin Cullen/Journal and Courier

Eleven-year-old Brent Cothran may still have an odd taste in his mouth after what happened Saturday at Purdue University's 16th annual Bug Bowl.

Let's just say that his first encounter with a chocolate-covered cricket didn't go too well.

"It began tasting real good, then it got all nasty," said Cothran, of Brook, after spitting several times to clear his taste buds. "It started spraying blood in my mouth. I don't think I'll eat another one."

Bug Bowl, a fun, educational event sponsored by the Department of Entomology, is part of a bigger event called Spring Fest, which continues today.

"A couple of kids in my class said, 'You should eat every bug you can,'" Cothran said. "I'm manly."

Thousands of families turned out Saturday to view horticulture displays, pet the piglets, meet llamas, race cockroaches and have their faces painted.

As usual, Bug Bowl was one of the main draws.

Aaron Davis, 11, of Goodland, kept the toothpicks as souvenirs after eating 10 chocolaty crickets.

"They're tasty," he said.

Joe Platten, a senior in civil engineering from Cleveland, was on hand to talk about a concrete racing canoe.

It floats, even when loaded with students.

"It's made out of white cement with glass beads. It's lighter than water," he said.

Carrie Stephenson, a veterinary tech student from Carmel, introduced visitors to two Brown Swiss dairy cows.

She talked about how to take their temperature.

"You have to take it rectally," she said. "You can't put the thermometer under their tongues, unfortunately."

Tim Norton, of the International Masonry Institute, was involved in "Brick Bowl." Students and apprentice masons teamed up to build brick pigeon houses.

The competition, he said, gave landscape architecture and design students -- who will later design masonry structures -- construction experience.

"It's not Legos anymore," he said.

Charles Hatton, of Winamac, exhibited two llamas and two alpacas. Everybody wanted to know if llamas really spit. They do.

"But they don't spit unless you deserve it," he said.

Children and adults petted baby pigs, a calf, chicks, goats and rabbits in the petting zoo.

Anna Bauman, a second-year veterinary student from Indianapolis, talked about "Sunny." The sweet-tempered, 24-year-old Quarter Horse had her sides painted to show her skeleton and internal organs.

"It helps make it real," Bauman said. "We use washable children's paint."