bugs

[Vanessa]

Hi:
I just found this http://www.terminix.com/Pest/Map/Identify/index.cfm
and found it helpful to know what kind of "pests" are in my state. Maybe some of you might find it helpful too.

[Lisa W]

Yes? Oh wait, you're not asking for me. :) My nickname with my family is "Bugs". :D

Sorry, I'm guilty of hijacking.....again! Please continue.....

:D

[Leisa M]

thanks for the link.

[jmarie]

Interesting link...but in my part of the State of Virginia, we have earwigs, something terrible...i mean they are just everywhere. If you pick something up that has a hollow handle, they fall out all over the place and start scurrying...but this web site doesn't even mention them!

[ellery]

I wish I only needed a map to tell me what kind of bugs we have in our state. Sigh. It's that time of year again where I live in fear of walking around with the lights off. The bugs here are so enormous and have absolutely no respect for territorial divides - just because my name is on the mailbox makes no difference to whether they enter uninvited. I forget what they're called - they're like enormous roaches. Something about living by the beach. Sigh. At least they're not those bouncing crickets that scare the bejesus out of me (they seem to have no sense of direction), but just as bad. They crawl everywhere, get into drawers, wave at me from the walls of my third floor bedroom and completely, utterly, unequivocably, undeniably creep me out.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but you've just reminded me what I hate most about my new home here in SC. Oh I hate those nasty nasty bugs. Even my cats are afraid of them. Sigh.

Leah

[sneezles]

Originally posted by ellery
I forget what they're called - they're like enormous roaches. Something about living by the beach.

Oh I hate those nasty nasty bugs. Even my cats are afraid of them. Sigh.

Leah

Palmetto Bugs!!! Thank goodness they aren't around here!! Had one fly at me one night while living in Singapore while dumping the trash...that was IT! Never took the trash out again!

Now bouncing crickets? EWWWW!

And my cat is scared of everything! ;)

[ellery]

Originally posted by sneezles


Palmetto Bugs!!!

And my cat is scared of everything! ;)

Oh that's right. I must have blanked the name out of selective amnesia. :rolleyes:

My lily-livered cats. They've never been especially useful in the bug area, but now they no longer even have any shame about it. One particularly delightful day after we'd just moved down here I was upstairs doing something (probably typing on the BB!) and heard this godawful "mom come quick! ET has just entered the building!" meowing from downstairs. Chickensh*t cat was sitting there staring at a palmetto bug, expecting me to do something about it. We discussed the matter, she reinforced her position that since I was human it was my job, I told her she was animal, her job. Stalemate. I ended up taking care of it (i.e. paralyzed it with Clorox, dropped a phone book on it, jumped up and down on said phone book all the while screaming "ew, ew, ew!", removed bug debris with a very large handful of toilet paper... then had to go lay down for about an hour.)

I hate bugs.

Bouncing crickets tend to live in scary, dimly-lit basements, and live for the moment that you head down the stairs unsuspecting...

Bugs. I'm sure there's a purpose to them, but I'd really like an explanation from God...

:mad:

Leah

[sneezles]

Originally posted by ellery


I ended up taking care of it (i.e. paralyzed it with Clorox, dropped a phone book on it, jumped up and down on said phone book all the while screaming "ew, ew, ew!", removed bug debris with a very large handful of toilet paper... then had to go lay down for about an hour.)



ROTFLMAO!!! I think your cat just might enjoy the floor show!!! :p :D ;)

[ellery]

Originally posted by sneezles


ROTFLMAO!!! I think your cat just might enjoy the floor show!!! :p :D ;)

I think I've just enabled my cats. Because I pretend to be brave (ha!) they don't have to be.

We do bug battle quite frequently in my house. It's amazing how many uses that spray Clorox has!

;)

Leah

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by sneezles


Palmetto Bugs!!!

Ewwww! You just brought back a nasty memory. Many, many, oh way too many years ago, I was in South America with a friend and her family and she had warned me about them-how gross, disgusting, etc. We were eating lunch under a thatched roof with a fan when one came buzzing in. We all scurried away from the table. :eek: Nothing prepared me for this and I couldn't finish my lunch.

[Vanessa]

Oh gosh palmetto bugs! Yikes! It brings back memories we stopped in Orlando and visited DH's parents who were spending time there away from cold and these thing flew by. I kept moving my head foloowing this and finally asked DH's dad what on earth it was he said "palmetto bugs". DH turned around and said "la cucaracha" My heart stopped yikes a roach.... Someoe told us that they are abundant because of palmetto palms around. Thank goodness we sprayed and got rid of them...
I hate bugs... Just the thought of cicadas coming soon to the area news tells us they are huge noisy and come in huge groups..(oh no)

[patissac]

ellery/leah, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost had to catch a breather here, I also use a huge wad of toilet paper, sometimes I'll break out with the cleaning gloves or if thier still moving on thier backs, I'll bring out the vacuum cleaner. I just can not bring myself to step on them or pick them up alive with toilet paper. I used to be so bad I would trap those **** things in a box and wait till my honey gets home to get rid of them, but he stopped doing that so I can take matters into my own hands. Oh thier horrible :( I meant to ask if anyone of this board can suggest a bug spray to spray around thats safe for my doggies but kills bugs asap?:(

[SandyM]

Well, I said I wasn't going to read this thread.... ;)

Here's what I use on bugs in the house:

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/HanoverAssets/Improvements/product_images/142742x.jpg

I love it, and I'm so stocked with refill cartridges, it isn't funny. We lovingly call it The Bug Sucker. :cool:

You can find them here (http://www.improvementscatalog.com/Parent.asp?product=142742x&dept%5Fid=1) .

[patissac]

hey vanessa I just realized your the one who posted that interesting web site on the bugs...oh boy it was hard enough just looking at those pictures ewwww. But I did finally come back from vacation and will be shooting some of those venezuelan recipes your way, sorry I know we're on the subject about bugs and I'm sure most of all you ladies appetites are spoiled along with mines

[Lisa W]

Ok, those Palmetto bugs sound horrible! I am offically freaked out!!! I hate bugs and I shouldn't have continued to read this thread but I did and now I've got the "itchy's"!! You know, when you feel like they're in your hair?!

We were overrun by crikets during our first summer in our new house. Drove me batty! I'll spray them (and spiders) with whatever cleaner that's closest to me and (like others have mentioned) use a ton of toilet paper to pick it up.

Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!!

:eek:

[Leisa M]

Originally posted by Vanessa
I hate bugs... Just the thought of cicadas coming soon to the area news tells us they are huge noisy and come in huge groups..(oh no)

Cicadas make an interesting sound. I had them when I lived in OK as a kid. They are not that bad, and won't swarm you, they swarm the trees.

[Leisa M]

Originally posted by Lisa W
Ok, those Palmetto bugs sound horrible! I am offically freaked out!!! I hate bugs and I shouldn't have continued to read this thread but I did and now I've got the "itchy's"!! You know, when you feel like they're in your hair?!

We were overrun by crikets during our first summer in our new house. Drove me batty! I'll spray them (and spiders) with whatever cleaner that's closest to me and (like others have mentioned) use a ton of toilet paper to pick it up.

Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!!

:eek:

My dog loves to play with insects (like crickets). We always have to watch what kind of insect she wants to play with:rolleyes:

[mbrogier]

If you ever see a cicada in person...they're pretty scary looking, but harmless. Our dogs loved them. :p We lived at the beach in NC, and we had lots of Palmetto bugs. My mom could handle snakes with no problem, but those bugs drove her nuts. Sealing the holes around our plumbing with foam helped keep them out. Our local pest control also had a spray that they sprayed around the cabinets that was safe for dogs and cats. There was also a spray they used in the yard. (They did spray for fleas once on the carpet, and I had a nasty reaction to that! There are sand fleas at the beach, too)

My cats love to patrol for bugs. They're worthless for mice, though...not that I have any here. I have one cat that catches flies in mid air and then eats them out of his paws. He's the same cat that can't walk through the house without hitting a wall. :confused:

[Gilgamesh37]

I'm not particularly bug-squeamish (or any other kind of squeamish, actually). I am, however, heartily tired of box elders. Yes, the website says they only occur in my area in the fall. Wrong. They're worst in the fall, but believe me, I have plenty of the d*** things in my house right now, thanks very much. Same for asian beetles, both of which are hard to kill barehanded. The only ones that sort of give me the heebie-jeebies are those big fuzzy house centipedes--and even those I've had to inure myself too, since with a walk-out ranch, we get them pretty frequently in the lower level.

[ellery]

Originally posted by mbrogier
My cats love to patrol for bugs.

Care to send them south for a vacation? ;)

This thread reminds me of one I saw when I first joined the BB last summer... something about someone who found bugs in her pantry. Almost everything in our pantry now is sealed in ziploc bags thanks to that grody thread! :D

Not to hijack this thread and make it all about Leah's palmetto bug woes, but the worst (well, maybe not) thing about these bugs is that we have an exterminator come once a month. So when I'm not finding them waving at me from my bedroom wall I'm perpetually finding them belly up in the most unusual places.

If only I could ziploc our house. There's nothing grosser than imagining where their little buggy feet have been. If they're in my bedroom, are they doing a little dance on my pillow? On my toothbrush? Ew ew ew ew ew.

I've really got to find a way to convince DBF to move back to Virginia. Those bouncy crickets aren't looking so bad all the sudden...

;)

Leah

[patissac]

oh no not the toothbrush! I recently had a gross encounter with a **** roach, they think its cute to walk on my ceiling in the master bedroom, well one thought it would be nice to land on my head in the middle of the night! I swatted that nasty thing off me and hopefully it hit the wall hard enough because I heard that thump sound...talk about nasty!

[ellery]

Originally posted by patissac
one thought it would be nice to land on my head in the middle of the night!

Well that settles it. I am definitely having nightmares tonight.

:(

Leah

[Lisa W]

I have long curly hair and I'm terrified of bugs getting tangled in that! I guess because, yes, I have had bugs tangled in my hair!

Must think about something else now...........


:eek: :D :eek:

[Leisa M]

Originally posted by Lisa W
I have long curly hair and I'm terrified of bugs getting tangled in that! I guess because, yes, I have had bugs tangled in my hair!

Must think about something else now...........


:eek: :D :eek:

I had long hair at one time, my SIL braided to go to the lake. I got off the boat and a YELLOW JACKET got into my hair. You never anyone unbraid their hair so fast! My DH and my BIL didn't believe me, until BIL got stung getting it out;) :D

[Gilgamesh37]

Just to prove that the Fates are always listening......

So I just had to come on here and brag about not being squeamish. So I'm sitting here eating my lunch, which is, like most days, a big spinach salad. And I start finding little hard bits of black plastic in it, which I pick out with some annoyance. I'm pretty casual in my salad-making, so I never bother to de-stem it, I just pull a few handfuls out of the bag every night, chop it up and into my lunch tupperware it goes. So I'm thinking there must have been a bit of plastic edging or something in the bag of greens and I'm annoyed but I'm also hungry. Until I discover that it's not, in fact, black plastic. And I discover this when I find one leg and about one-third of a beetle head. A BIG beetle. A really big beetle.

Yugga.

[MandMs]

OMG! Gilgamesh!!! Ew Ew Ew EEEEWWWW! :eek: :eek:

I so did NOT want to open this thread.

Leah. I have to say, you CRACK ME UP! Thanks for the laughs today.

The box elders arrive with a vengeance in the late summer/fall here. They tend to seek out the sunny side of my house and set up camp there. When I open the door, they fly around. They crawl on the front porch floor and up the walls. They totally p*ss me off!

In Nebraska, we have cicadas that tend to start their "singing' in late summer. To me, it's just a neat sound. And they are tree dwellers, too, so not really scary. I wish I could describe the noise they make. People who have never heard it are quite amazed (and bothered) by it. It actually puts me to sleep.

One I remember growing up were June Bugs. They looked like gigantic, oversized lady bugs...like the diameter of a quarter. They lived in our ivy. I was scared sh*tless of these things! Their wings made a horrific "flapping" sound when they flew. Yuck!

[patissac]

Oh great I've got natural long curly hair and just finished polishing off soup with spinach in it....:eek:

[mbrogier]

Ellery, my cats hate to travel, so they declined your kind offer.

If you ever get a look at a live cicada...its large and fly-like. It strangely resembles that moth creature from the poster of Silence of the Lambs. The sound they make is soothing.

Sorry, Patissac. I hope your soup was clean. :p

Last night's National Geographic channel's Taboo:Food had people eating insects. I wouldn't purposefully do that even if they were bathed in clorox.

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by Gilgamesh37
So I'm sitting here eating my lunch, which is, like most days, a big spinach salad. And I start finding little hard bits of black plastic in it, which I pick out with some annoyance. I'm pretty casual in my salad-making, so I never bother to de-stem it, I just pull a few handfuls out of the bag every night, chop it up and into my lunch tupperware it goes. So I'm thinking there must have been a bit of plastic edging or something in the bag of greens and I'm annoyed but I'm also hungry. Until I discover that it's not, in fact, black plastic. And I discover this when I find one leg and about one-third of a beetle head. A BIG beetle. A really big beetle.

this reminds me of the time a friend of mine ordered a chef's salad from the compound restaurant which arrived with not one but 2 dead palmetto bugs nestled alongside the boiled egg. The restaurant has yet to live down the 'make mine with extra protein' jokes.

Originally posted by ellery
I ended up taking care of it (i.e. paralyzed it with Clorox, dropped a phone book on it, jumped up and down on said phone book all the while screaming "ew, ew, ew!", removed bug debris with a very large handful of toilet paper... then had to go lay down for about an hour.)

We had a very lively discussion one night about palmetto bug disposal techniques. It was strongly suggested by someone that you NOT step or otherwise squash them because....if you stepped on a female it could be carrying...Eggs! While the probable consequences were not explained, I think the theory was you might thereafter find them incubating all over your house. So what am I supposed to do? Inquire politely if it's with child before I drop the phone book on it? I'm taking my chances that it's an urban legend! If you're on my turf, Mama, you and your kids are going down. :D

[ellery]

Big sigh.

I'm sad to report that despite my begging and pleading to the air, and vague threats that SOMEBODY'S kitties may be coming south to do bug duty (I don't take "no" for an answer very readily)... apparently the bugs hiding out in my walls decided to call my bluff. While I have yet to see one (this week), last night I opened a cabinet to get a glass (for milk to go along with my Oreos ) and heard a scrabbling sound. Scrabbling no doubt from some icky bug scrambling to return to its hiding place. (I promptly changed my mind about the glass of milk.) DBF happened to be pulling into the driveway at the time of the scrabbling, but by the time he had been convinced to check out the sound, the sound-maker was gone.

I'm with you Linda... the bugs are going down. It's me or them.

If only I could convince DBF of the seriousness of this problem - he just rolls his eyes at me when I get wound up about how gross they are and how much they don't belong in our house, and tells me to climb down from my perch on the couch where I go to get away from bugs... He says "they're just little bugs! They're not going to hurt you!" Harumph. :mad: Men... they just don't understand. :rolleyes:

We need to move...

;)

Leah

[HejazSunKat]

Originally posted by ellery
I'm with you Linda... the bugs are going down. It's me or them.


D@mn straight! This is War! :D

[JLK]

okay so those of you with the palmettos may think i'm being a baby but i can't stand the ladybugs and ants anymore. i bought hotels for the ants. they work but now i'm constantly vacuuming dead ants off my bathroom floor. as far as the ladybugs i don't know what to do to get rid of them. they're everywhere!! and by the way i have had no noticable good luck:)

[HejazSunKat]

Oh JLK, how awful! Too much of anything can drive you well, buggy. :) Try here for some suggestions on the ladybugs....

http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47795&highlight=Ladybugs

[Jasmine-Rose]

I'm so glad I live in New England. I'll gladly freeze for 5 months of the year if it means that critters like palmetto bugs never migrate north.

[Leisa M]

In college, I lived in a dorm that had roaches. They on sprayed EVERY OTHER ROOM, so the roaches would go where they did not spray:rolleyes: I always had roaches, until my grandmother told me about some stuff (can't remember the name). We got it, my dad put that stuff everywhere, squirted it into every crack, ect. NO MORE ROACHES!!:D

[LA98]

These cat vs bug stories are cracking me up! I have a cat who loves to play with bugs until they don't play back (also the very occasional mouse, which is a really good thing because I had never even seen any evidence of mice and wouldn't have known we had them before I found the corpses on the basement floor). I'm grateful that she's keeping the bug population down, but I do not enjoy finding cave cricket (very large, black jumping crickets) legs and other parts all over the house.... Yuck.

[mbrogier]

Ellery, maybe if you tugged a bug looking toy around on a string your cat would start chasing the real thing. My cats wouldn't make the trip...seriously. I have to sedate them to get them in the car...or they scream the whole trip. Its just sad. They'll eat insects, but they won't go in a car. :rolleyes: It took the fly catcher 2 months to come out from under the bed when we moved into our new house.

I do love living up here...not as many bugs. :D