BUGS!!!

[partscounterman]

One night a couple of weeks ago, we were getting ready for bed. Dennis was in the bathroom, when I heard him make a strange noise. At first I thought he was trying to sing, then I realized he was trying to SCREAM. He came flying out of the bathroom, naked as a jaybird, being chased by a HUGE centipede! ISH! Back in Minnesota, centipedes were harmless little things that lived under things in the basement. They were less than 2 inches long and were gross, but harmless. Here in paradise, the bugs grow fat and healthy. The centipede we had in the house was about 7 inches long and as thick as my middle finger. They can bite you and the bite really hurts (common remedy-get drunk for three days!) So this HUGE thing is chasing us through our house and we are screaming like two schoolgirls! We never wear any kind of footwear in the house, so we cannot squish it. I finally sucked it up with the vacuum. When I opened the vacuum bag, it was still kicking. EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

We do not expect to be chased by big bugs because Terminex service is included with our rent. Don't know how that one made it through.

Then the other morning, Dennis went to refill his coffee cup and found a HUGE cane spider in our sink. It was over 6 inches across. Again, I got it with the vacuum.

We got Terminex back out to make the place TOXIC. I despise bugs!

 

[spiraclean]

Centipedes

Hi David,
Thankfully we don’t get ones that large here in Northern Ireland but the ones we do get bite and I just hate them, they are the only insect that truly makes my skin crawl.
I hope the Terminex Service gets things sorted for you.

All the best.
Hugh

 

[peterh770]

Centipedes and spiders are predators. There must be some other good food around for them that you can't see...

 

[DADoES]

Lordy. A 7" centipede would give most anybody the screams, except maybe an entomologist. I have lots of spiders. They love brick and getting up under the trimwork at the base of the cabinets, leaving 'lunch carcasses' behind. But they do catch some of the other bugs that around so I guess that's a plus.

Interesting, on a builder's association tour a couple months ago, one of the model houses had a "No More Spiders" system installed. A tank of insecticide in the garage with a pump system and spray nozzles under the eaves around the house and patios.

 

[gansky1]

I hate bugs and they are thick this year - if you stand still long enough, you'll have fine, whispy webs around your legs! That centipede sounds positively like the worst thing ever, except for that 6 inch spider in the sink! It sounds like a horror movie come to life... Predators? BITE??

I think I have to lie down now.

 

[tolivac]

I remember seeing a large centipede something like what you saw when I lived in New Mexico as a kid. Knew they werfe dangerous and not to touch it. It crawled into a hole in the bricks in a wall on our house.
At an apartment building I used to live in-they always had LRAGE moths and lots of cockroaches.Sucked them up into my NSS M1 vacuum-when those bugs went thru its giant fan-they were then just spots on the inner paper bag.also same sort of theing when I would clean out transmitters in various radio stations-would vacuum out remains of mice,snakes,bugs,etc.The M1 took it well. Now have 3 of 'em.Excellent bug vacs-but they are expensive.I have also picked up bugs into my Tri-Star-they survive the experience and I let them loose outside-The bugs would be fine if they stayed outside.Have lots of 'em as well in NC-but probably not as BIG as the ones in Hawaii. My mom was born there and she always said that her folks told her to check her shoes before putting them on --in case one of those giant centipedes campted in a shoe for the night!!The only really big "bugs" we get here are those big green gross tobacco hornworms that the tobacco farmers just love to exterminate..

 

[gansky1]

When I lived in Arizona, Scorpions were everywhere - and they are dangerous, nasty stings! I only ever found one dead one in my apartment/townhouse but my neighbors found a couple in their daughter's toy box. I went to the library and researched insecticides, bought a can of Diazinon granules, sprinkled around the outside of the house and never saw another scorpion again. Diazinon was removed from the market this year - it's replacement does not work nearly as well.

 

[jmirawm]

Visualizing.......

Oh my! I needed a good laugh today. I can just imagine you two running around the house squealing. I love it ! I too would get very excited if I saw a 7 inch centipede coming at me !! <p> I once sprayed a huge spider with Hair spray (concrete hold) and put a glass over the spider before leaving for work. Most of the time though, like you, I use the trusty vacuum hose. <p>We have large spiders here called wolf spiders. Every spring I spray around the foundation of the house with Malathion. I also bought some of those insect control things you plug into the wall. Supposed to make some sound humans cant hear. So far they have worked great. No cobwebs in the house. I always hated cleaning them down from the cathedral ceiling in the living room and kitchen. LOL, once I connected christmas wrap tubes together with duck tape and then attched them to the hose on the vacuum with duck tape. That was the best way i found to clear the cobwebs from that high ceiling.

 

[tolivac]

jmirawm:At the transmitter site I work at we also have the large Wolf spiders-love to watch em scurry across the floor here at night-I guess going after crickets,beetles,etc that get trapped in the building.At how big they get-there is lots of food in here for them to eat. The ones that live in NC don't build webs-if outside they live in a burrow in the ground.In the building-they hide in corners or under things.Don't see them at home.We also have the black widows here-they get large-and love the places that are Hot!!-usually transmitter blower rooms-the exhaust area of the room where the heat goes out-the Black Widows just love that heat!!They build their webs in there too.Have to watch for them while working in the blower rooms.
Also love your wrapping paper tube vacuum extension "wands".

 

[partscounterman]

We were warned!

We knew before we moved here that creepy crawlies could be a problem. One of the first friends I made here told me "Around here, you either have bug service or you get chickens!"

 

[bostonwash]

bugs can be creepy

I have had "issues" with earwigs. They like cool and damp. One house I owned before putting on new siding had thousands of them living under the first few courses of aluminum siding. They were coming in the house and it was weird. A friend also had a problem with them living in his central air conditioner unit outside. It got so bad they clogged the low voltage contact switch and caused it to short. Took the cover panels off and they were just everywhere.

Just a suggestion for those using a vacuum to suck up bugs. After each time I use my vacuum I take the bag out and carefully put it in a plastic bag and then put it in the freezer until next time. It kills dust mites and anything else you may have sucked up. It also seems to get rid of any foul moldy smells you might otherwise get.

 

[appnut]

I don't have nearly the bug problem I did in Houston. Although it could be I have Orkin monthly (the chemicals they use in this locale are approved by Texas A&M extension bureau) (as well as the sprinkler head brands for my sprinkler system) and with both, I've been pleased with results. OR I simply cannot see what li'l critters are here LOL.

Hmm David, I wouldn't mind one bit witnessing that jaybird running around or his accomplis (he he he) YEE HAW!!!!! YEAH BABY!!!

 

[whirlcool]

Texas Creepy Crawleys

WHen we moved into this house, we had spiders everywhere! Big ones, little ones, you name it. To find 4 or 5 a day somewhere inside was common. We had an exterminator in and it helped for a few weeks and then they all came back. I stopped at a chemical store to pick up some fertilizer and mentioned the problem to the salesperson, who told me that I probably have a spider infestation in my lawn. I had never heard of that before, so he sells me a bag of this Bayer chemical, very expensive and small.
But you don't use a whole lot, maybe 4 cups for the entire lawn. He said it would kill anything that wasn't susposed to be in there. I spread the stuff on the lawn and watered it slightly as the directions called for. About an hour later I went outside and what I found looked like something out of a Stephen King novel, there were so many spiders exiting the lawn that they completely covered the sidewalk and driveway! I had to get a water hose out and wash them down into the drain by the curb. I had never seen anything like it! But, within a day or so we hadn't seen any spiders at all in the house. So once a year we repeat the process. The salesperson at the chemical shop told me also that spiders are predators so we must have smaller insects around for them to feed on. Get rid of the smaller insects and the spiders should go away.
We do have a snake problem, but having dogs seems to keep them away. A woman in the front of our subdivision pulled out the lint screen of her Whirlpool dryer and attatched was a Coral snake! Live no less! (Wouldn't you love to hear the screams over that one?) I actually spoke to the woman who had it happen to her and she said she dropped the filter only to have it fall on a basket of dirty clothes. She called her husband who is only slightly MORE scared of snakes than she is. He left the laundry room screaming.
They finally had to find a snake removal service that would make a house call at 11:00PM on a Sunday night. They came and very carefully found the snake inside a shirt that was in the basket. For those who don't know, coral snakes are VERY poisonous.
How did the snake get up in there? Her dryer vent is only four inches about ground, doesn't have a trap door on it, and the area immediately under the dryer vent is gravel. Snake heaven!

 

[rinso]

Here in Idaho we have what is known as the cockroach of the Mountain West. The gross, and prolific earwig. It is indeed closely related to the roach, from what I have read. We always keep a cordless vacuum handy to suck them up, because as we all know, nothing can live in a vacuum.

 

[tlee618]

Hi David, That must have been a real scare for Dennis and you! Not a nice way to end your day or start it either. We seem to have a larger number of spiders around here this year as well. I live in an older home and it seems like I am always finding webs!! At least the cure for the centipede bite sounds like it could be fun!LOL I am sure that you are both keeping a watchful eye. Terry

 

[tolivac]

SNAKES!

Thats another critter thats common around here-Copperheads and Cottonmouths-these are nasty-their bites are very dangerous.Have killed several cottonmouths out here.If they stay in the feild-no problem-but get into the building or other areas where workers go-its a problem.also find some big snapping turtles in the drainage ditches.Those snappers sure love the dead snakes we kill-they are good "disposals" for snakes-living or dead-the snapping turtles LOVE'EM.

 

[DADoES]

A HUGE turtle skedaddled across the FM road to my ditch a couple months ago. The ditch was full of water at the time so I lost sight, and figured it was long-gone after the ditch dried during the recent dry spell. There has been bunches of rain recently. Last week I saw it sitting on the driveway culvert at one entrance, sunning itself. I got my camera and walked back out, but it jumped off into the water soon as it saw me. SPLASH!

 

[rinso]

Tolivac, like you, most of my career has been spent as an RF technician/engineer. Every transmitter site has its unique compliment of bugs and other critters. Here, most of ours are on high mountains. Some are full of horse flies, while others have lots of black spiders, and of course almost all of them attract wasps and hornets. I will have to admit that snakes, poisonous and otherwise, don't really frighten me,nor do mice and rats. I've dealt with and/or killed hundreds in my career. But just let one wasp fly inside and I scream like a banshee. Stinging insects really bring out the sissy in me.

 

[maytagbear]

I was so hoping..but so wrong

That this thread would be more like:

GOSUB10

SORT20

END

Love and laughter (and those hunky Terminix/Orkin men!)

Lawrence/Maytagbear