Wow Gilli....you must know your stuff if you can spot migrant insects!!
I was out in Connecticut about 4 years ago and I saw a cicada for the firs time, it having dropped in from the trees onto our table. Not exactly what I had thought they looked like, but great nonetheless.
I'm not really a big fan of locusts and grasshoppers...they have those hairs on their feet which means they stick to you...and when you're using them in a lab I swear they fly directly at you on purpose!
Whats wrong with bugs?
Bugs that are outside are okay. Once they've come into my house they've crossed into my territory, thus forfeiting their life.
One of the worst for me are camel-back crickets. They look like big spiders but they jump, and always at you. If there's no one around to handle them for me I usually end up just throwing books or something at it from a safe distance. This is the same tactic I use for all spiders and regular bugs bigger than a nickel.
Bugs that will crunch win the fight. I just relocate myself to another room . . .
One of the worst for me are camel-back crickets. They look like big spiders but they jump, and always at you. If there's no one around to handle them for me I usually end up just throwing books or something at it from a safe distance. This is the same tactic I use for all spiders and regular bugs bigger than a nickel.
Bugs that will crunch win the fight. I just relocate myself to another room . . .
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selfmademug
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Goody2Shoes
- Posts: 1301
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 12:24 pm
- Location: bouncing over a white cloud
When I was younger we lived in a house where we used to go in through the garage. There would always be a whole army of camel-back crickets waiting by the door, on the door, on the wall by the door, especially at night. It used to really freak us out. My mom, on the other hand, would just roll her eyes at us and walk right through.
Fearless
Fearless
I feel your pain, brother...partially.BlueChair wrote:I have a major insect phobia. I've gotten much better. When I was a kid I'd run inside squealing. Now I can do away with small insects I find in the bathroom. But any large spiders and/or bees freak the hell out of me!
Actually, I'm okay around most bugs but bees and needless to say hornets -- cool or not -- and wasps, even if they're didn't attend prep school -- scare the motherfreakin' bejesus out of me! I think this is because I've never been stung. I freeze up completely. (I once endured a visit from a calm bee who had chosen to rest on my arm for at least five minutes.)
I think if I choice pretty facing a angry lion or a p.o'd hornet, I'd take the lion. Cats I can relate to.
Yet, I find documentaries about bees, wasps, and even fiercer bugs absolutely fascinating. A bit of the ol' nature ultra-violence, me droogies.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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Mr. Average
- Posts: 2031
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 12:22 pm
- Location: Orange County, Californication
When Bee's are Cruel
I am lethally allergic to honey bee stings. Lethally. Within less than 30 minutes after the sting I am in full anaphylactic shock and respiratory distress. Without epinephrine as an inhalant and an injection, I am a dead ringer for a dead stinger.
When I receive a bulky package in the mail, I lift it to my ear. If it buzzes, it's "return to sender".
The cover of "When I Was Cruel" raises my blood pressure about 20 mmHg. So I close my eyes when I play it.
Consequently, I could have never dated anyone named "Bebe"....
When I receive a bulky package in the mail, I lift it to my ear. If it buzzes, it's "return to sender".
The cover of "When I Was Cruel" raises my blood pressure about 20 mmHg. So I close my eyes when I play it.
Consequently, I could have never dated anyone named "Bebe"....
"The smarter mysteries are hidden in the light" - Jean Giono (1895-1970)
Re: When Bee's are Cruel
Well, Mr. Average, you've got a definite reason to be scared...Of course, I suppose, I could be in the same boat, for all I know. There's only one way to find out...
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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A rope leash
- Posts: 1835
- Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 6:47 pm
- Location: southern misery, USA
Stung
Bob, I can’t believe you’ve never been stung. I wonder if there is any way you can find out if you are allergic without getting stung?
I’ve been stung many times. Once, when I was about ten, I kicked up a nest of yellow- jackets, and I was stung seven times. I screamed like a girl and tried to out run them, and actually ran right into a tree. Funny stuff.
Yellow-jackets aren’t too bad. What you want to watch out for are the red wasps, and you definitely want to steer clear of the hornets.
Last summer, a mess of hornets took up residence in a birdhouse on a fencepost in my sister-in-law’s garden. We knew about the hornets, and spent some time observing them. Their reputation for anger is well deserved.
One morning my brother was bush-hogging the weeds out by the garden, and backed into the fence post. They nailed him like three or four times. He swelled up pretty bad.
Since my brother is not one to take such attacks lightly, he went out and bought one of those aerosol hornet killer products, one of them that shoots about twenty feet so you don’t have to stand too close. It worked pretty good, at least the squirting part. He soaked the birdhouse with it, and we stood there talking and joking, assuming the hornets would die quickly, and that we would be able to examine their beautiful bodies. To our surprise, several stunned hornets dragged themselves out of the nest, and flew around slowly, and wiped the goopy insecticide from their stinging eyes. They very quickly recovered, and very soon they detected us, and after a couple of close buzz-bys, we ran for our lives.
But my brother never fails. After about an hour or so, when the hornets were settled, he grabbed the gas can and doused the birdhouse with gasoline. He set it afire pretty quickly, and somehow avoided getting burned or stung. We stood around for a while watching the house incinerate, presumably with the hornets. But one should never presume.
One hornet was not at home. He came buzzing back, and surveyed the result of the arson performed on his home in his absence, and the tone and tempo of his buzzing became more harried. He circled the burnt-up birdhouse in several violent spins, and more times figure-eighted my brother and I, and then just froze between us in a glaring hover. My brother and I looked at each other and gasped, and ran away, both of us, to our respective homes.
I guess the hornet could see I was shit for running, so he chased after me. I ran up my deck, and ducked inside the sliding screen door. Here’s the cool part. The hornet comes to a dead stop right outside the screen door, and it’s like he knows I’m in there. Then, like a lion, dog Beau steps up and starts growling. He had been sleeping on the deck. The hornet continued to hover, but slowly turned to face the snarling threat.
There was a short standoff, after which the hornet began to dance and pitch a bit, maneuvering on the dog before swooping in on him, whereupon Beauregaurd lunged and snapped and ate that motherfucker.
Mr. Average you need a dog like Beauregaurd.
I’ve been stung many times. Once, when I was about ten, I kicked up a nest of yellow- jackets, and I was stung seven times. I screamed like a girl and tried to out run them, and actually ran right into a tree. Funny stuff.
Yellow-jackets aren’t too bad. What you want to watch out for are the red wasps, and you definitely want to steer clear of the hornets.
Last summer, a mess of hornets took up residence in a birdhouse on a fencepost in my sister-in-law’s garden. We knew about the hornets, and spent some time observing them. Their reputation for anger is well deserved.
One morning my brother was bush-hogging the weeds out by the garden, and backed into the fence post. They nailed him like three or four times. He swelled up pretty bad.
Since my brother is not one to take such attacks lightly, he went out and bought one of those aerosol hornet killer products, one of them that shoots about twenty feet so you don’t have to stand too close. It worked pretty good, at least the squirting part. He soaked the birdhouse with it, and we stood there talking and joking, assuming the hornets would die quickly, and that we would be able to examine their beautiful bodies. To our surprise, several stunned hornets dragged themselves out of the nest, and flew around slowly, and wiped the goopy insecticide from their stinging eyes. They very quickly recovered, and very soon they detected us, and after a couple of close buzz-bys, we ran for our lives.
But my brother never fails. After about an hour or so, when the hornets were settled, he grabbed the gas can and doused the birdhouse with gasoline. He set it afire pretty quickly, and somehow avoided getting burned or stung. We stood around for a while watching the house incinerate, presumably with the hornets. But one should never presume.
One hornet was not at home. He came buzzing back, and surveyed the result of the arson performed on his home in his absence, and the tone and tempo of his buzzing became more harried. He circled the burnt-up birdhouse in several violent spins, and more times figure-eighted my brother and I, and then just froze between us in a glaring hover. My brother and I looked at each other and gasped, and ran away, both of us, to our respective homes.
I guess the hornet could see I was shit for running, so he chased after me. I ran up my deck, and ducked inside the sliding screen door. Here’s the cool part. The hornet comes to a dead stop right outside the screen door, and it’s like he knows I’m in there. Then, like a lion, dog Beau steps up and starts growling. He had been sleeping on the deck. The hornet continued to hover, but slowly turned to face the snarling threat.
There was a short standoff, after which the hornet began to dance and pitch a bit, maneuvering on the dog before swooping in on him, whereupon Beauregaurd lunged and snapped and ate that motherfucker.
Mr. Average you need a dog like Beauregaurd.
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laughingcrow
- Posts: 2476
- Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2003 8:35 am
We've got to stop the destruction of the planet! Yeah!
Otherwise the creatures of this Earth will rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs.
Yeah. We want trees, not fac-trees. Yeah.
Think about it. They are listening as we speak.
They have ears.
Some of them have ears on their knees.
Yes. You know of whom I speak. They will take us and they'll make us:
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
2. The locust squats upon the leaf
He's just biding his time
The human world that he surveys
He thinks "one day all this will be my-e-eye-e-eye-e-eye-e-eyen"!
The spiders are not insects
But in a war they would side with the insects
Traitors, traitors, spider traitors, they'll betray us and they'll make us:
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
3. Where did we all go wrong
The insects used to be our brothers
But along came pesticide
And on that day our friendship died
And pouring boiling water down ant's nests couldn't have helped
We had betrayed the trust
Of the bee and the locust
Out there are some angry bugs
Too many salted slugs
And when will the madness end
We can find if we look inside
A different world we thought we'd lost
But if we look we're sure to find it
In the place we thought it was
It muust be here, it's here somewhere
I only put it down just now
A kind of world that's not unkind
But if we look we're sure to find it
There it is... no, that's not it
One behind it.
No, the big one.
No, keep going, keep going, bit further down...
Second row down. Keep going. Bit down. Bit down... that's the one mate!
Then I know that I'll be free
'Cos I'll have found the insect in me
The insect in me!
4. What about the worms, eh?
Yeah. Eyeing up your car, thinking:
I'll be driving that one day.
Imagine that, worms, driving your car.
Have you thought about it?
I've thought about it.
We've got to stop them!
Stop them before it's too late!
What have we got to do?
We've got to harness the worms!
Ride around on their backs!
We are superior, we are intelligent
We are the humans, these are the facts:
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Imagine the nightmare of having an insect boss
Go on into work - 'Good morning Mr Wasp'. Aaagh!
Oh, britain never ever will be
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Otherwise the creatures of this Earth will rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs.
Yeah. We want trees, not fac-trees. Yeah.
Think about it. They are listening as we speak.
They have ears.
Some of them have ears on their knees.
Yes. You know of whom I speak. They will take us and they'll make us:
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
2. The locust squats upon the leaf
He's just biding his time
The human world that he surveys
He thinks "one day all this will be my-e-eye-e-eye-e-eye-e-eyen"!
The spiders are not insects
But in a war they would side with the insects
Traitors, traitors, spider traitors, they'll betray us and they'll make us:
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
3. Where did we all go wrong
The insects used to be our brothers
But along came pesticide
And on that day our friendship died
And pouring boiling water down ant's nests couldn't have helped
We had betrayed the trust
Of the bee and the locust
Out there are some angry bugs
Too many salted slugs
And when will the madness end
We can find if we look inside
A different world we thought we'd lost
But if we look we're sure to find it
In the place we thought it was
It muust be here, it's here somewhere
I only put it down just now
A kind of world that's not unkind
But if we look we're sure to find it
There it is... no, that's not it
One behind it.
No, the big one.
No, keep going, keep going, bit further down...
Second row down. Keep going. Bit down. Bit down... that's the one mate!
Then I know that I'll be free
'Cos I'll have found the insect in me
The insect in me!
4. What about the worms, eh?
Yeah. Eyeing up your car, thinking:
I'll be driving that one day.
Imagine that, worms, driving your car.
Have you thought about it?
I've thought about it.
We've got to stop them!
Stop them before it's too late!
What have we got to do?
We've got to harness the worms!
Ride around on their backs!
We are superior, we are intelligent
We are the humans, these are the facts:
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Imagine the nightmare of having an insect boss
Go on into work - 'Good morning Mr Wasp'. Aaagh!
Oh, britain never ever will be
CHORUS
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
Human Slaves, In An Insect Nation
Ah-Aah-ah-aah-ah!
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Gillibeanz
- Posts: 1697
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:28 pm
- Location: England
All life deserves respect. I could never kill a bug - there but for the grace of God go I - can they help being bugs??? If you believe in reincarnation you may come back as one - think about that before you squish them!
This will make you laugh. A few years back I aquired a bucket of tadpoles for the pond. The woman who gave them to me said feed them on worms as my pond was new and not established enough to feed them naturally. Apparently all I had to do was chop them up and throw them in. So I spent hours digging up these worms, took them into the house and laid them out ready for chopping - I just couldn't do it! Brainwave! I thought I know i'll shut my eyes and just chop quickly......but I couldnt bring myself to do it! Poor worms! So back to the garden they went and my tadpoles got catfood and best minced beef!!
Another time I was fed up with the amount of huge slugs that were decimating my plants so my partner and I spent over an hour collecting them in a plastic bag - we must have had over 100 in there. I couldn't bring myself to kill them so he said leave them in there and they will suffocate. Nope - couldn't do that either so he said well (im laughing to myself here) leave them there and we will take them up the park later on after work. Well halfway through the day it was so hot I thought they would all die of heat exhaustion ....so yep you guessed it - I LET THEM ALL GO BACK IN MY GARDEN - WHAT A WALLY I AM!!!!
OK i'm too soft but i'd rather be like that than too harsh
This will make you laugh. A few years back I aquired a bucket of tadpoles for the pond. The woman who gave them to me said feed them on worms as my pond was new and not established enough to feed them naturally. Apparently all I had to do was chop them up and throw them in. So I spent hours digging up these worms, took them into the house and laid them out ready for chopping - I just couldn't do it! Brainwave! I thought I know i'll shut my eyes and just chop quickly......but I couldnt bring myself to do it! Poor worms! So back to the garden they went and my tadpoles got catfood and best minced beef!!
Another time I was fed up with the amount of huge slugs that were decimating my plants so my partner and I spent over an hour collecting them in a plastic bag - we must have had over 100 in there. I couldn't bring myself to kill them so he said leave them in there and they will suffocate. Nope - couldn't do that either so he said well (im laughing to myself here) leave them there and we will take them up the park later on after work.
Well halfway through the day it was so hot I thought they would all die of heat exhaustion ....so yep you guessed it - I LET THEM ALL GO BACK IN MY GARDEN - WHAT A WALLY I AM!!!! OK i'm too soft but i'd rather be like that than too harsh
COME ON YOU SPURS!!
ARL --
I guess part of the reason that I've never been stung is that:
A. I grew up in a city/climate where bees and bugs are relatively scarce.
B. As a child, I had to practically forced outside to "play", away from the TV and books, which was basically where I lived.
C. I can stand, really, really still. (Don't know if this would work with hornets...doubt it -- I once defeated a wasp though, armed only a can or Right Guard. That was one winged beast that never had to worry about b.o. again!
I guess part of the reason that I've never been stung is that:
A. I grew up in a city/climate where bees and bugs are relatively scarce.
B. As a child, I had to practically forced outside to "play", away from the TV and books, which was basically where I lived.
C. I can stand, really, really still. (Don't know if this would work with hornets...doubt it -- I once defeated a wasp though, armed only a can or Right Guard. That was one winged beast that never had to worry about b.o. again!
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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A rope leash
- Posts: 1835
- Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 6:47 pm
- Location: southern misery, USA
Yee-ow!
The problem with standing perfectly still is if it doesn't work you're toast.
I'll tell you what, since you don't know. Getting stung hurts like a motherfucker right when it's happening. The suffering from there depends on what stung ya.
I'll tell you what, since you don't know. Getting stung hurts like a motherfucker right when it's happening. The suffering from there depends on what stung ya.
Once when I was a kid I reached into a box of tinker toys, but unbeknownst to me there was a wasp in there. It stung me on the fingers 3 times and then flew up my sleeve. That hurt.
Also stepped on a dead bee (but with stinger intact) with bare feet once.
Strangely, Im much more freaked out by spiders than I am by flying stinging things . . .
Also stepped on a dead bee (but with stinger intact) with bare feet once.
Strangely, Im much more freaked out by spiders than I am by flying stinging things . . .
In the movie, "To Have and Have Not", Walter Brennan asks everyone he meets, "Ever been stung by a dead bee?" Not sure of the relevance of that....pip_52 wrote:Also stepped on a dead bee (but with stinger intact) with bare feet once.
Also, ARL -- I know that if one encounters a swarm, you have to run. I was speaking of individual bees. Of course, standing still works even better with dead ones.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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Gillibeanz
- Posts: 1697
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:28 pm
- Location: England
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spooky girlfriend
- Site Admin
- Posts: 3007
- Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 5:19 pm
- Location: Huntsville, Alabama
- Contact:
When my son Jordan was 18 months old, he was outside with a cup of juice. The cup had a lid and a straw. Somehow several yellow jackets had flown down the straw, into his cup, and when he drank through the straw they went into his mouth. I heard him scream and ran to him. I saw the yellow jackets inside his mouth, stinging him, as he was screaming. And, I did what any mother would do - I reached inside his mouth and grabbed them. I think I pulled either three or four from his mouth.
A few years ago when we were in Hilton Head Island, I was stung multiple times on the back as I was returning to our condo from the beach. Apparently there had been a wasp nest in the stairwell and as I walked up, they all went for me! I was so pissed that I went back to my room, got a broom and a bottle of spray cleaner, and proceeded back to the nest. DrS told the kids just to stay out of my way because "mommy was mad". I drenched the suckers with spray cleaner and then took the broom and beat the nest until it fell to the ground, several floors down. I then politely went back and told DrS that he didn't need to call for maintenance - I had dealt with it myself.
Sorry, Gilli. No offense.
A few years ago when we were in Hilton Head Island, I was stung multiple times on the back as I was returning to our condo from the beach. Apparently there had been a wasp nest in the stairwell and as I walked up, they all went for me! I was so pissed that I went back to my room, got a broom and a bottle of spray cleaner, and proceeded back to the nest. DrS told the kids just to stay out of my way because "mommy was mad". I drenched the suckers with spray cleaner and then took the broom and beat the nest until it fell to the ground, several floors down. I then politely went back and told DrS that he didn't need to call for maintenance - I had dealt with it myself.
Sorry, Gilli. No offense.
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selfmademug
Wow, Spooks you get the Mom award! I've been stung on the tongue by a yellow jacket that rode in on a ham sandwich. Oweee.
Have also had the multiple wasp sting business-- at age five-ish, my mom put a towel on me just out of the bath, and the trapped critter stung me five or six times. My shoulder was swollen for a few days.
Stumbling on a nest is the worst, though-- those fuckers will really chase you. I had that one in Arizona, near Sedona, taking a 'shortcut' to a swimming hole my husband blazed through some brambles. Oy. Lotsa bites that time; I'm not even sure what they were. Yellow jackets again, I think.
Have also had the multiple wasp sting business-- at age five-ish, my mom put a towel on me just out of the bath, and the trapped critter stung me five or six times. My shoulder was swollen for a few days.
Stumbling on a nest is the worst, though-- those fuckers will really chase you. I had that one in Arizona, near Sedona, taking a 'shortcut' to a swimming hole my husband blazed through some brambles. Oy. Lotsa bites that time; I'm not even sure what they were. Yellow jackets again, I think.
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laughingcrow
- Posts: 2476
- Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2003 8:35 am
Once I was out in the fields and someone disturbed a massive wasps nest I knew was about 200 yards away...me and some friends saw them all flying out, and had to jump and lie on the ground and let them fly over us. That was actually quite fun though. I have been attacked by a goose...that's not fun.
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selfmademug
This thread got me thinking about a bunch of things I've been meaning to photograph for my f'log. Here's a bug-related one, and there's another up as well:
http://www.fotolog.net/selfmademug/?photo_id=7470633
http://www.fotolog.net/selfmademug/?photo_id=7470633
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miss buenos aires
- Posts: 2055
- Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:15 am
- Location: jcnj
- Contact:
When I was a girl at summer camp, hygiene was not really a top priority; I think the summer I was ten, I took maybe one shower the whole month I was at camp (but I did go swimming in a lake every day, which is kind of the same thing, right?). Anyway, I was on this hiking trip when I felt this sharp pain on top of my head, out of nowhere. After a while, it went away. Three days later, when I took my hair out of its ponytail (kids are just dirty without moms around), I found a dead bee in my hair. After that, I never considered getting stung such a big deal, because I figured if it could happen without me even caring enough to brush my hair, the fear was the worst part, not the sting. Never been stung by a wasp or a hornet, though.