Sick of BUGS!

[And-Con]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

for what its worth i grew up in the swamps on the west coast, mangroves not those grassy savanna things and there were spiders that were the up to about 5 inches across-not poisonous, to my knowledge, but they were big and if i hadn't grown up there i would never survive a day there

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

Well I gotta say, Ohio is nice and all, but I am ready to go back to Florida. My company's flying me home in about 8 hours for the weekend, and then I return to Ohio for another three weeks. Not sure after that. Those huge spiders you're referring to must be the banana spiders. They conveniently make their webs just the right height where it smacks you in the face. I have walked through the woods more than once, and run right into one. Geeze, no matter how hard I tried, it took forever to take that whole darn web off. Good thing I'm not scared of spiders.

On a side note, the funniest prank I pulled on my fiancee involved a fake tarantula. Tie it to about a foot long piece of fishing line, tape or staple it inside the cabinet, and put it on the top shelf. Man, she opened that thing and the neighbors thought she found a dead body!! There was this blood-curdling scream, followed by my laughter, which came to an abrupt hault as the flying grapefruit shut me up quickly. I guess she doesn't see the humor in this?

 

[lowkee]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

UUHHH, Now I know were I am NOT moving!!

Good, that means there aren't crazy bugs like that in KY!

On a different note, when I moved to NC I was told that it was sacada season (apparently once every so many years).. well, it was that 'season' for three straight years! You hardly ever see them, as they stick to the trees, but they SO loud, and a sustained 15 seconds of loud at a time (with a 10 second break). When you do see one, you are grateful you rarely see them, as they are HUGE and without a doubt, one of the most nasty looking bugs out there. They easily measure 3 inches long by about 3/4 wide, and they fly!

When growing up in Maine, once every 7 years we would get locusts, which sucked, but never anything like these bugs in the south. I always hated winter, but after years of living in different places, I have come to appreciate the cold climates. They keep the crime and bugs away.. two thing I can live without!

On a mostly unrelated note.. Charlotte recently commended the police force here for keeping crime out of the area.. you know.. *only* 27 murders in Charlotte so far this year.. The entire state of Maine is all abuzz when more than 1-2 murders happen throughout the entire state in a full year! All I can say is when do they admonish the police, here? When a holocaust happens? Maybe the bugs really do drive people insane.. there may even be a correlation between the big bugs and big crime.. <Lowkee starts a thesis on it>.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

In the summer if you attend an evening Harrisburg Senators baseball game you do NOT want to order a cotton candy after about the 4th inning

The mayflies come in off the river to the floodlights and then start dying and dropping. Seriously nasty.

 

[flycaster]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

Do a google search for rhinoceros beetle and see if this is what you have encountered.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

For seven years I worked marking wetlands for the army core of eng.
Here are some of the things that happened to me in those swamps:
* 4 spider bites (at different times).
* 30+ bee stings in the face (at the same time, that was an ER visit).
* Two other times I was attacked by bees but not as bad.
* Countless chigger bites (so bad that sometimes the bites were only an inch
apart starting from my ankles all the way up to my waist).
* Stung by 5 yellow jackets on top of my head and face (at the same time,
another ER visit).
* Stung by 6 wasps (all at different times).
* Chased by a wild pig (I know, it?s not an insect).
* Had 9 leaches attach to my skin (in 2 different incidents).
* Countless ticks attaching (during a certain season it was almost one every
other day).
* I?m not real allergic to poison ivy but during summer I always had little
spots of skin
that were affected by it.

I also have driven people to the ER for snake bite treatment. Despite all this, I have no animosity towards any wildlife.
My job before that one was with industrial fiberglass. Grinding fiberglass everyday is way worst than all that stuff I wrote above.

 

[Numlaar]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

My job before that one was with industrial fiberglass. Grinding fiberglass everyday is way worst than all that stuff I wrote above.

I totally agree!!!! In doing my rebuild, I also have a new found hatred for fiberglass (along with bottom paint LOL).

And just to show I wasn't making it up about the beetle that landed on me:

The dirt on the floor is what came out of my shoe after I gave it a good wallop... I still shudder thinking that nasty thing was on me!! Blech!

 

[CaptainKev]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

The Carpenter bee you refer to is drilling a hole to lay it's larvae. The real problem is when the larvae hatch they really tear up the wood making multiple tunnels. I've tried leaving soft pine and new redwood but they still prefer my new deck and the kid's redwood swing set. Interestingly, they haven't touched my older deck. I think the older pressure treating is maybe deterring them. This year has been the worst I've seen. I also live in Ohio and the radiator of my car was completely blocked by cicada's during the 17 year cycle..........took over thirty minutes to scrape the gunk off, with traffic zooming by me on I-75. Never thought they were life threatening until that day.
Kev.

 

[Lightnig]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

LOL well fortunately I was half asleep otherwise I probably would have if I knew exactly what it was... I was groggy when waking, and heard the buzzing, started to wake up and felt it on my shirt near my waiste line, jumped up, and it dropped on the floor where I smacked it, then I could see what it was and was like HOLY Bleep! I took a picture just to prove it really happened hehe but it looks the exact same as the one above, but only about 2inches long. Has some nasty pinchers on it, glad it didnt bite me!

I just can't wait till my cabin is finished and I can move back to clearwater! yeesh!

Showed my wife those pics tonight, when she read the bit about it landing on you, she just about crapped her pants...

 

[Tubingluvr]

Re: Sick of BUGS!

I'll trade you your Florida Super Bugs for my Michigan Winters Even Up !!