Insects

[SKT]

One more to add. I think “soldier beetle” maybe?

[steelworker]

all of em

[Oaktavia]

@SKT Looks to be one! Neat...

[Oaktavia]

@steelworker said in Insects:

all of em

lol I like how you come here just to say this hahaha.

[WhiskeySandwich]

Almost went face-first into a pumpkin spider on my porch this morning on my way out the door. Those guys are so cool but I totally freak out and squeal when they end up on my face. Took a pic of him but the lighting sucked and it wouldn't focus, so maybe next time.

Another for the extermination-from-earth list: ticks and chiggers. I'm sure Oaktavia is familiar, being from where he's from. Their bites stick with me for MONTHS. A tick got me on the waistband in May and it still itches.

[SKT]

@WhiskeySandwich +1 on the ticks and chiggers eradication plan. I’ll add that the absolute worst to me are seed ticks. Our farm is covered in them this time of year. I spray all my woods clothes with Permethrin and it works amazingly well. Oh and add horse flies too. Their bite is awful.

[Matt]

This is escalating. I do love though how the Insects appreciation thread slowly morphed into the Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out thread.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@SKT I've never heard of seed ticks before, but years ago i got bit by a lone star tick and weeks later ended up in the hospital nearly going into anaphylactic shock. I had contracted an alpha galactose allergy and it took a while to kick in. Ate a steak and woke up at midnight to hives and a closing throat. Couldn't eat beef for a year....

[SKT]

@Matt damn I’m laughing at that

@WhiskeySandwich well I had to look it up but I guess seed ticks are just normal ticks in the larval stage. Here in the fall they will literally cover your pants if you walk through the woods. I’ve heard of that allergic reaction. Sounds awful but I’m glad it finally went away for you. There have been a ton of psa’s here about the lone star tick and that allergy because they’re seen in Missouri more frequently now.

[Oaktavia]

@WhiskeySandwich I have never heard of a pumpkin spider, I had to look them up. Love the way they look, super rad. I had a tick inside my Wabash CPO when I was sleeping one night. I kept feeling it near my armpit/inner arm. As you know, ticks are masters of deception and are super flat when hungry. I finally found it around 3am and freaked out. As far as chiggers, I was warned about them living in Spanish moss in Savannah, GA but never had an encounter with them.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia man i hate spiders, but as far as i know, the pumpkin spiders and banana spiders we get all over our house are harmless, but for sure freaky looking. The banana spiders are cool because they stay put, and their webs have like a lightning bolt in the middle, those are my fave. Another thing we get a lot of is frogs and toads due to the stream running thru our yard.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia btw, hope you caught that sucker before he bit ya! I did a lot of research on both chiggers and ticks back in the day when i used to be a land surveyor - they're generally pretty harmless but are hella sneaky!

[Oaktavia]

@WhiskeySandwich I love spiders hahaha they are "my friends" but I don't like them in my house as I have two dogs. Man I wish I had frogs and toads around my house. The little kid in my is green with envy

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia LOL yeah, I don't like them in the house, but outside I usually just let them be. The ones I mentioned are cool to look at, and they generally help with the crazy amount of winged menaces like mosquitoes and whatnot. They all have their place and I don't like to disturb anything I don't need to - to avoid disrupting the balance. We name all of the regulars lol. Frogs, snakes, spiders, etc, even the blue tailed skinks we have around.

[Oaktavia]

@WhiskeySandwich That's rad man, sounds like we have a lot in common, nature and denim-wise. I have only seen one blue tailed skink and it was at my Nana's in Prince Frederick.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia hell yeah brother! I'm about 5 minutes ride from there, and I live in the sticks, so we have loads of em. All kinds of wildlife coming through our place, we just enjoy spotting them.

[Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot]

[SKT]

@Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot walking sticks are so cool

[Oaktavia]

@SKT said in Insects:

@Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot walking sticks are so cool

Agreed! I found one the other day for the first time in years.

[Sir_Cuffs-a-Lot]

First time seeing one, awesome little dude