Flipping logs is a lot more exciting in North Carolina than it was in Arizona! Well, that’s not exactly true. There was a high likelihood of running into something venomous under logs in Arizona and that made it VERY exciting, but there seems to be a much greater diversity of things under logs in North Carolina. Case in point:
Millipede
There were three millipedes under this one log, each doing its part to break the log down and return it to the soil. Alongside the millipedes were sowbugs, fungi, ants, and some worms. Woo, decomposers! They don’t get nearly enough love considering the invaluable services they perform.
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The Dragonfly Woman 
Cool posting, though personally I am not sure I am courageous enough to tip logs. Unfortunately, your use of the word “decompose” triggered a memory of he old line that “old musicians never die, they just decompose.”
Sorry, I apologize.
But there’s such great stuff under logs! Personally, though, I use a well booted foot to flip them, make sure there’s nothing dangerous underneath, THEN pick them up if the coast is clear. I found too many scary things under logs in Arizona to want to stick my hands under them.
“Venomous” and “exciting” don’t go together for me – “terrifying”, perhaps – but I do see your point !
Exciting can sometimes equal terrifying. That’s part of what makes log flipping exciting! You never quite know what you’ll find underneath.
Millipedes and cetipedes give me the creeps, although they are necessary in the ecosystem, but I’d rather have them far away from me.
Agreed on the centipedes, though they are venomous too. I think they’re super creepy! Millipedes don’t bother me, for whatever reason. We used them in an outreach program I used to be involved with so I held a lot of them. Apart from the fact that they ALWAYS peed on me in front of the kids, they were completely harmless. I think I just got used to them over time.
Come to Florida, where flipping over logs gives you both a diversity of interesting decomposers, and a high chance of turning over something venomous! Best of both worlds! You’ll love our dusky pygmy rattlesnakes as much as they love logs!
Ooh, fun! I’m there! Oh wait… Forgot I’m scared of snakes…
You know, I have never felt the need to flip logs in your state. It’s such a foreign place to me with all kinds of dangers I’m not use to that I always worry I’m going to have an encounter with something terrible there. I tend to leave things like logs alone. It’s all a matter of what you’re familiar with I suppose.