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A Farm of My Own:  What bug really *bugs* you?  |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 31 2011 : 11:00:57 PM
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May, June, and July last year, we had an unexpected guest. It was a huge bumble bee. This thing is as black as black gets, and its body is the size of a golf ball!! He made a home in a knot hole in an eve of our home. We collapsed the hole nest when he left last fall. We are still going strong in the yard redo, and the weather has been fabulous! I was sitting down drinking a lemonade, and reading some of these posts, when I heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone dropped a bee hive on my tin awning. It was the bumble bee!! He is back. He is looking for the home he left last year, AND HE IS MAD!! Seriously, bouncing off the walls and Windows, flying crazy....
A friend of my DH swatted at one once, and had to dive in a ditch! They sting, bite, and don't lose their stinger! They attack. I have no idea how to kill it. My DH hit it with a baseball bat last year, hard, and only managed to really tick it off. Our backyard is made for entertaining, AND I have four kids. When he comes buzzin in, we all head inside. It's not friendly. I have a large dislike for giant angry bumble bees now two!
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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Tall Holly
True Blue Farmgirl
2305 Posts
Holly
Worcester
Vermont
USA
2305 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2011 : 05:34:48 AM
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I am glad I live up here in Vermont as well, no chiggers and few ticks. I do not have snails in my garden but maybe that is becasue our chickens free range. I have seen them at other peoples gardens. I like snakes they are a sign our garden is healthy. We do not have poisonous snakes. Lady bugs sleep in the siding of our house oveer the winter.
I do notlike silver fish, those little silvery, slimey bugs that sometimes come into the bathroom. I have not seen any in a really long time.
Cluster flies annoy me to no end. I do not know if they live in all areas of the country. Here in the north thye live in our siding and creep into the house on warm days in the fall, winter and spring. They come inm large numbers. The only way I have found to get rid of them is to vacuum them up each night before bed.
One night I did not vacuum them up. I was reading in bed before sleep. One flew down and landed in my ear. I tried to grab it to scoop it out but it had gone in my ear canal. Flies do not walk backwards. the blasted thing died in my ear. It was buzzing, I could feel it and hear it and then it stopped. No piece was sticking out. EEEEEWWWW I was so grossed out. I considered taking myself to the emergency room but being the parcticla Yankee that I am I waited three days until Tuesday when I had my annual physical anyway. My wonderful doctor arranged for me to slip inbetween appontmens at the ENT's and he had it out in less than 5 seconds.
Holly
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2011 : 06:16:10 AM
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This post made me chuckle. For me it is spiders. Last year, I put on a knitted cap to go out with my family to play in the first snow. There was a spider in it. It went down my face, and I stepped on it. Didn't realize that it had bitten my chin until I came in. I have a bad scar on my chin from the horrible infection that followed. I was so sick and was told how lucky I was because it could have been so much worse. Apparently, the little devil was poisonous. Now I Hate-with-a-capital-H spiders. Last week I found a giant wolf spider sitting in my bathtub. EWwwww!
The other thing that freaks me out is anything that flies near my face, even a butterfly. I love birds and butterflies, but if something with wings gets too close to my head, I just freak!
I used to be highly allergic to fireants as a child in Texas and had to endure years of shots because it was life-threatening. SO, I guess my relationship with bugs has not always been too great.
But I loooooovvvvve ladybugs and caterpillars (are they a bug???) and do admit a fondness for Daddy Long Legs.
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/ |
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Cibola
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Remi
Ellensburg
Washington
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2011 : 7:55:45 PM
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Earwigs. .. . . ewww.....
"When you get to the end of your rope, you tie a knot and hang on." |
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Cibola
True Blue Farmgirl
50 Posts
Remi
Ellensburg
Washington
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - Apr 02 2011 : 7:57:03 PM
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We have earwigs. I have tried powdered talc and it seems to help.
"When you get to the end of your rope, you tie a knot and hang on." |
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Tall Holly
True Blue Farmgirl
2305 Posts
Holly
Worcester
Vermont
USA
2305 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2011 : 5:21:08 PM
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In the spring we have black flies. they bite and leave welts. I use baby oil to keep them from biting. It works for mosquitoes too. the buggers can land but they can not suck because they can not breath through the oil. Alot of people around here use skin so soft from Avon but the smell is nasty. Baby oil does not stink nearly as bad
Holly
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CMac
True Blue Farmgirl
1074 Posts
Connie
Ashland City
TN
USA
1074 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2011 : 5:24:30 PM
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Hey Holly I'll try that! Skin so soft makes me wheeze and I don't like the smell anyway. It would be so cool if Tennessee mosquitoes don't like baby oil.
Connie
"I have three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for company."
Author: Henry David Thoreau |
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alterationsbyemily
True Blue Farmgirl
697 Posts
Emily
Chambersburg
PA
USA
697 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2011 : 3:56:59 PM
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Stink bugs!
I hate them to no end! Last fall on the Harvest moon, all the farmers around me harvested the same day. That night I was pulling buckets out of my curtains. I am positive that they have nested inside the walls of my house because they creep out of the pot light in my kitchen and from the fan in my bathroom. I have no plans on living here next year during the harvest moon.
Spiders always give me a scare but they are dead within a second, and I only have ever found one silver fish, not too bad. We get foundation ants but I take care of them with the same spray I concoct for japanese lady bugs.
The second on my list are FLEAS. My one dog is white and short haired, if she has fleas, I treat them both. I have friends with terrible flea infestations and I will check my house and vacuum when they leave. I get very paranoid about them and check my dogs at least four to five times a day.
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Currently renting-farmgirl wannabe |
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DebraJean
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Deb
Washington County
OR
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2011 : 11:16:05 AM
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| Hmm...how to pick just one? Cucarachas? Used to live with them; still have nightmares about them. Fleas make me angry, as do mosquitoes. So...anything that bites, sucks your blood, and can survive a nuclear blast - check, check, and check! I have come to accept spiders as my garden buddies, but if they move the party inside they get flushed. Most things that have a freakish amount of legs tend to give me the shivers. Anything that gathers in large numbers, no matter how tiny they are - think maggots under the trash can lid or a cloud of gnats, even a trail of ants - REALLY freaks me out. (Ew! I don't even like reading or thinking the "m" word!) And, if I could keep a ladybug or two in the house to stave off the aphids that sometimes gather under my scented pelargonium leaves, I would be honored, but I know they don't belong in the house. Here in the Pacific Northwest, although they aren't insects, I'd have to say - ugh! - it's the slug that bugs me the most. I think we have a jug of diatomaceous earth somewhere. I should pull that out... |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2011 : 11:24:31 AM
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| Debra, like you, I can't even speak the name of a certain bug -- the one that will survive a nuclear blast. I call them "c bugs," like your "m". I also have nightmares about them sometimes (thanks a lot, Florida). So...Sister! {hug} |
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DebraJean
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Deb
Washington County
OR
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2011 : 11:36:04 AM
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| Mara, I used to be able to hear them at night, as I lay in the dark. (I tensed up just writing that!) Yes - hugs - now! |
Edited by - DebraJean on Apr 10 2011 11:40:14 AM |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2011 : 11:48:18 AM
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| Oh Debra, I *know*. Eeuuww. Erace erace erace!!! |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 5:49:22 PM
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When I lived in the desert it was crickets.
Every now and again the tan ones would crawl across the carpet.
No biggie except knowing they chew on EVERYTHING! The final straw was one evening when one crawled across my arm. I was napping at the time and about hit the ceiling.
Here in the south it's ants. I can't stand em!! Outside is ok, but especially in the kitchen and I'll literally go CRAZY!!
And of course, there's the gigantic roach that crawled up my pant leg at work while i was typing oon the computer. I posted on here about that little incident! It still gives me the heebie geebies and sometimes I'll sit there w/ my legs all drawn up or propped up on one of the drawers BLECH! |
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DebraJean
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Deb
Washington County
OR
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 8:34:38 PM
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And of course, there's the gigantic roach that crawled up my pant leg at work while i was typing oon the computer.
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Ew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 11:16:27 PM
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I don't think I could put my legs down while at my desk again!!! Ahhhh, that is absolute yuckieness!!!! There was the biggest black widow I'd ever seen once, behind one of my window boxes, on the farm. One night while my DH was out with friends, I was sittin on the poach waitin up, and something brushed my arm. It was the spider slippin down a web thread. I was 7 months pregnant, and my chair went one way, ny book another, and my scream brought my FIL out from his house, at the other end of the driveway!!! I eventually killed it, but NEVER sat there again. Like a new widow was going to move in to replace her....I couldn't be next to that box at night without lookin first, for a phantom spider....LOL.
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2011 : 1:17:35 PM
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Know what? mosquitoes. They're not just a nuisance while they're around, they leave itchy and painful welts to remind you! even while you're asleep >_<
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
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FishieLPK
Farmgirl in Training
11 Posts
Felicia
Moscow
ID
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - May 07 2011 : 01:39:26 AM
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Yuck! Now I"m all paranoid and feel itchy just from reading all of your responses!
Annette, I've never heard of angry bumblebees before. All the ones here are pretty stupid and "bumble" around, make flowers droop when they land on them, and run into nearly everything. It's funny to watch them fly around with their great, huge bodies, but I've found them to be quite cute LOL
As for the bugs I hate? Aphids. They always kill at least ninety percent of our plums before they can even mature! There's earwigs, too. And wood ants. They both end up in our house every year, though my mom got rid of the big nest of wood ants in my room a couple of years ago, so I'm happy for that! I was tired of having all of these ants crawling all over my carpet! Then there's definitely cockroaches that I hate. Who wouldn't? The first and last time I ever saw them was at a friend's house. I had gone to reach into a bowl of chips, and a cockroach the length of my thumb popped up! Ewww. There are also fleas, of which I had never seen until I went to South Carolina for ten days two years ago at the end of June. Man, I hate those things! I came back with bites from my toes to my knees from those little suckers. And when I got home, my mom made me strip in the shed before I was allowed to come inside!
The bug that I hate the most though... are skeeter eaters. Or crane flies, if you want to use their real name. I know they're harmless, but they're HUGE, and they scare me! If I see one flying around, I run and hide, or if it's in my bedroom, I dive under the blanket. I know all they do is eat mosquitoes, but they're just so big that they're scary LOL
http://fishielpk.blogspot.com
"As long as you speak from your heart, you will always have clean hands, and you will always speak the truth.
There is nothing better you can give to someone than a true heart."
--Cliff SiJohn, spiritual leader of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe |
Edited by - FishieLPK on May 07 2011 01:39:46 AM |
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DebraJean
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Deb
Washington County
OR
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - May 14 2011 : 11:10:23 AM
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| I didn't realize crane flies eat mosquitoes. Hmm...that's a great thing. On the other hand, because they look so much like gigantic skeeters themselves, and because I cannot stand when they graze my legs when I'm sitting out at night, they often wind up dead if they get into the house. I accidentally let one in last night -the first of the season that I've seen. Found it at the kitchen window this morning while I was doing the dishes. It creeped me out so I had to say sayonara. |
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traildancer
True Blue Farmgirl
485 Posts
Loyce
Glide
OR
USA
485 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2011 : 09:50:33 AM
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I don't like anything that I think will get stuck in my hair, can't get out and then sting me. Here in OR (and in AK, where I grew up) we have these big black beetle things with looong antennae. We call them "Moosehorns", don't know why. I think they bite and they fly. So one day my sister-in-law and I were horse camping and we decided to go to the nearby lodge for dinner or ice or ice cream. Something like that. I was driving my stick-shift Dodge and thought I felt something crawling on my neck. So I brushed at it. Nothing happened. I felt it again; brushed again. Anyway, finally I saw it on the shoulder of my shirt. Well, we were just at another camp along the road. Here I am, trying to get the bug off of me; stop the truck without killing the engine; put it in neutral with the emergency brake on; get out (I think before the truck stopped rolling!); yelling and juping up and down; pulling off my shirt to get it OFF before it bit me. I do believe the nearby campers wondered what the heck was going on. And I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law was laughing her head off.
I don't like slugs. But all the other insects don't bother me as long as they don't bother me! I don't mind snakes, even rattlesnakes as long as my dogs don't get too close. I figure they are just being snakes. Now if one were near or in the house, it would have to go. Oh, and I don't like scorpions. I had no idea they lived in OR until I found one in one of the sections of the bassinette that my son was on getting his diaper changed. My husband said they lived in the woodpile. My son is 19; to this day, I knock each piece of wood against another before bringing it into the house.
The trail is the thing.... Louis L'Amour |
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kymomma4
True Blue Farmgirl
516 Posts
RoDonna
Frankfort
Kentucky
USA
516 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2011 : 8:51:59 PM
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Wood bees....I would love to know how to get rid of them. I can't sit out on my porch or deck because they like to hover around you. It's annoying.
Farmgirl #2361
"Blessed is the farmgirl who helps make the world a better and healthy place" ~ Me
www.youravon.com/rodonnacarson |
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A Farm of My Own: What bug really *bugs* you? |
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What bug really *bugs* you?
