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Across the Fence:  The least desireables  |
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hennessy
Farmgirl in Training
19 Posts
Melissa
Minnesota
USA
19 Posts |
 Posted - May 08 2006 : 5:47:33 PM
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Not that I want to focus on the negative, but now that tick season is in full swing here in MN (I just took my dog for a walk and since I got back have been picking them off of me as I sit at the computer - and I'll have the creepy crawlies for the rest of the night, now!), I'm wondering what your least favorite bug or critter is? Since we live all over this country, and in others, I'm sure the answers will be varied. Feel free to vent! 
As irritating as these ticks are now, the season is short, so I'm going to have to vote for mosquitoes as my all time least favorite. Here in MN they are starting to come out now, and will stick around until the first frost (late Sept or Oct, usually). They make any outdoor activities much less enjoyable!
If you lived in your heart, you'd be home by now. |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2006 : 6:50:21 PM
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My vote goes for a tie between ticks, leeches, mosquitos and mice. I've been bitten by all of them except mice, and they all carry a great amount of "yuckiness" to them, I think. On the upside, however, as long as they are in their own part of the world and not in direct contact with mine, they are pretty interesting...
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2006 : 6:54:55 PM
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Sweet ants! The bane of my existence. For some reason, they find our bathrooms to be paradise. No matter what we try, they just mock us! Tiny little protesters marching across the tiles. If I had a magnifying glass, I am sure I would find them to be smiling.
It could be worse I suppose, but I am trying to figure out how!
Karin
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hennessy
Farmgirl in Training
19 Posts
Melissa
Minnesota
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2006 : 7:04:24 PM
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Haven't had huge problems with sweet ants here, but do have a story from my youth. I went into the kitchen to pour myself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. I opened the box and the cereal was absolutely crawling with sweet ants! Eeewww! Turned me off of Honey Nut Cheerios from that time forward.
If you lived in your heart, you'd be home by now. |
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sonflowergurl
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Katee
Tampa 'Burbs
FL
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 03:09:46 AM
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Palmetto bugs (aka giant cockroaches), mosquitos (here almost year-round unless we get a good cold winter like this year), silverfish and mice (though I don't have any here, used to have them in our old farmhouse in WV).
Oh and FIRE ANTS!!! We have tons of them in our yard!!!
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 06:51:12 AM
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Mosquitos, I hate the most, probably cause they like me the most - yuck! I live most of the summer with deet spray on if I want to go out in the evening. Yellow Jackets are the other, just because they are so aggressive. Ants can be a pain, we have them every spring and every spring I spray. Mice - only if they get in the house and run around, otherwise they are kinda cute. Rats - those I hate, I freak if I see one.
Anne
"Second star to the right, straight on till morning" Peter Pan
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 08:19:56 AM
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We get sweet ants too especially in the kitchen. I have moved the garbage can and recycle bin outside. I'll go manic and be committed to a rubber room before those take over the house. Sometimes hubby gets amused, sometimes I scare him.
If I can plug holes where they come in with caulk it's ok and usually they dasappear, but half the game is fndng where the little buggers originate from.
In fits of desperation I'll grab a can of Raid and spray their line. But I have given muself nasty migraines from smelly insecticides, and would rather not use them if it can be avoided.
We also get house centipedes. Luckily at home these aren't a huge problem, but at work in the barns I see them all the time. They have a million long harry-looking legs and move fast! They just give me the willies
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akcowgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Valerie
Homer
Alaska
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 09:37:18 AM
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All bees exept Honey bees. The honey bees are usally so laid back that you can pick them up but all the rest, Yellow jackets, wasps and such are bad. I turn into a freak if i see one. I will go running the other way.
Hey Mosquitos are Alaska's Blood Bank, don't feel to bad. I saw my first one the other day and they won't die till october usally.
Valerie
Yes, I live in my own little world. But that's ok they know me here.
Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
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celebrate2727
True Blue Farmgirl
989 Posts
Beth
MJF
Farmgirl
989 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 09:53:03 AM
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I too enjoy the MN bird- the mosquito. They love me so much you can play connect the dots on my legs! BUT I HATE ticks. They creep me out.
I do have some helpful hints- chickens LOVE to eat ticks- let them out to roam in your yard. And bats eat thousands of a mosquitos every night so invest in a bat house.
blessings
beth
Dreaming of Friday Night Lights
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hennessy
Farmgirl in Training
19 Posts
Melissa
Minnesota
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 12:43:28 PM
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How could I forget June bugs?!? I hate those things! Big, hard things with thick scratchy legs. They congregate around the light outside my door and divebomb my head and get caught in my hair when I go outside. YUCK!
If you lived in your heart, you'd be home by now. |
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ali2583
True Blue Farmgirl
404 Posts
Alison
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Canada
404 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2006 : 3:12:48 PM
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Moths are the only insect that creep me out with their little hairy bodies. Yuck!
"God's gift to you is life. What you choose to do with that life is your gift to God" |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2006 : 10:49:59 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sonflowergurl
Palmetto bugs (aka giant cockroaches), mosquitos (here almost year-round unless we get a good cold winter like this year), silverfish and mice (though I don't have any here, used to have them in our old farmhouse in WV).
I do not miss the flying roaches that we had in South Florida. At. All.
Here it's ticks. I really hate 'em. I hate finding them on my dogs and I hate finding them on me. Yuck!
Mosquitoes here are better than they were in FL. It's been really wet and rainy here the past few weeks though so we have a few out there - it's not as fun to be outside right now but it's not unbearable. At my folk's house in FL, you don't go outside after sunset. As soon as that sun is hitting the horizon, you had better hightail it to the house!
I'll share a quick mosquito story too. A friend and I went for a hike in some swamps near Apopka. We kept a pretty good pace, fairly ahead of the mosquitoes, then one of us turned around, grabbed the other, and we both looked behind us. I'm telling you it was a CLOUD of mosquitoes the likes I have never seen before or since! And we were wearing repellant too! We both took off running and didn't stop until we got to an open area with something of a breeze.
EDIT: I actually like June bugs - not when they are being stupid and hitting my head from playing with the light, but otherwise I like them. And moths - I think they are unappreciated. Those soft hairs and feathery feelers are so much nicer than the bodies of butterflies, which are usually just black and very bug looking. |
Edited by - greyghost on May 10 2006 10:53:10 AM |
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Kate Talley
Farmgirl in Training
27 Posts
Kate
West Jordan
Utah
27 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2006 : 6:10:00 PM
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Around here, with all the kids and pets, we have the ant issue. The tiniest little crumb and it seems we get invaded with the nasty little suckers.
Oh, I also hate earwigs! When I was little someone told me they would crawl into my ear and lay eggs. They just gross me out. They seem to love to eat the leaves of my greens too!
Kate
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theoanne
True Blue Farmgirl
282 Posts
teddie
CARROLLTON
GA
282 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2006 : 6:52:03 PM
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Don't really mind 'bugs' or critters. There is always something interesting about them. When my oldest son was 11 he told me,"Mom, Girls are supposed to be afraid of bugs. Instead you pick them up and show them to us" I guess he enjoyed it too coz now he's an Environmental science major.
Actually I don't like them all. I hate anything that buzzes. If it flies near my ears and makes noise then I'm gone. Also fire ants are annoying. I'm sure God has a use for them,I'm just not sure what it is.
Teddie |
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Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 04:23:33 AM
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I had a mosquito episode like Greyghost's once. Swampy ground and the repellant was ambrosia to them! My worst bug, however is deer ticks. Both dog and husband have had Lymes disease, we have herds of deer and ticks year'round. Not crazy about chiggers, either. They give me the willies. Teddie: I also wonder why God made some of these critters!
Phil's Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
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owwlady
True Blue Farmgirl
899 Posts
Jan
Tomahawk
WI
USA
899 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 07:56:37 AM
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| Kate, you forgot the last part of the earwig story. They crawl in your ear, lay eggs, AND you go crazy....well, at least that was the version I was told... |
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Destiny~
True Blue Farmgirl
195 Posts
Dar
west
TX
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 11:18:50 AM
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We don't really have flies, mosquitos etc so I'll have to say dog ticks (although my vet said they're really cat ticks). The reason I don't like ticks is because my dog almost died from tick fever and we have to be really careful that she doesn't get another one on her, which is so hard.
"Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest-a harvest for hope."
Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope |
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Alaska farm girl
True Blue Farmgirl
123 Posts
dorothy
skagway
Alaska
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 11:36:31 AM
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| Boy,after reading all the other stories I'm glad I live in the north....almost! I do hate the mosquitoes though.They are out already in full force.Then we will have black flies.They are tiny and leave big welts and get in your ears and eyes! And THEN, there are the horse flies.They take large chunks of skin when they bite,can make for a very unrelaxing ride! I have been buying garlic powder from a place in Maryland.It seems to help some.People write into the catalog with good results for ticks and other creepy crawlies too.It's www.springtimeinc.com.They have horse,dog and people products. |
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Across the Fence: The least desireables |
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The least desireables
