Gayle Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I have to keep an Epi-pen for fire ant bites. One little critter will put me on the ground. I have noticed that they build nests in sunny locations, if you have plenty of shade, they move elsewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 We had nests of yellow jackets all over our yard in Havana that I found the hard way one afternoon when I came home from work and mowed the yard. I forget how many stings I got, but when I discovered that there was no diphenhydramine in the house I freaked totally; apparently in the process I produced enough natural epi to control the reaction! Even iced down the pain was SO bad! So far I only saw one yellow fly on our windshield. What I do NOT miss since we moved are the cockroaches! the ones that start out an inch long and go up from there and take half a can of Raid to stagger are welcome to remain outdoors to feed the spiders and anything else that will eat them! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 None of those creepy crawlies where I live up north. Thank goodness...I HATE bugs! Surprise, surprise I'm going to be doing some house cleaning today; hopefully carving out a little space to set my worktable up so I can start my Fling! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrchob Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Anxiously waiting for a call from the vet that Matilda (my avatar) is out from the anesthetic. Had to have large cysts removed from various parts. Had a 6 mo old Basset puppy die with anesthesia when she was being spade. Time sure goes slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Janet, I know how those waiting times go When Gibbs(my avatar) had cysts removed a few years ago it was not a fun time. We also lost a 3 year-old fur baby to a staph infection aggravated by having her teeth cleaned. Prayers for an "all is well" call soon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 After reading about the fire ants, etc., I think I'll stay on the West Coast! Janet, hope your pup is up and around soon! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 What pretty bassets! One of the nice things about paddling is that between the bilge pump and the bailing sponge the old washing machine is now ready to be replaced; and the fire ant nest is all squeaky clean. Just in case the residents decided to put in an appearance I tossed the "starter" wasp nest we knocked off the portico ceiliing, since one of the cells appeared to be inhabited. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrchob Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The vet's office just called. All went well. Did not have to take off part of her tail.(two huge cysts just above the white of the tail). Then there were 4 others. Suppose she will look funny for awhile but since she's a character anyway that's OK! Appreciate your concern. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 We had nests of yellow jackets all over our yard in Havana that I found the hard way one afternoon when I came home from work and mowed the yard. I forget how many stings I got, but when I discovered that there was no diphenhydramine in the house I freaked totally; apparently in the process I produced enough natural epi to control the reaction! Even iced down the pain was SO bad! So far I only saw one yellow fly on our windshield. What I do NOT miss since we moved are the cockroaches! the ones that start out an inch long and go up from there and take half a can of Raid to stagger are welcome to remain outdoors to feed the spiders and anything else that will eat them! I'm terribly allergic to bees of all kinds - thankfully there aren't too many around here, though my DH has removed a couple small nests under the eaves. But cockroaches - those miserable things! They say all of nature has a purpose but I've never figured out anything good that cockroaches do! In Florida we lived in a 10-acre orange grove and I actually saw the little critters flying towards the house! And, as you say, they are so big!! So thankful we don't have them here in the Northwest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansmith Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Janet & Sarah.........reading your posts got me hysterical. I was thinking cartoon avatars, just being dense ya know? And I was picturing you being all serious about them having cysts and then realized, they are REAL family members. (don't you dare call them pets, mine are my kids) I felt terrible. Janet I was so glad to see you'd already posted Matilda did well. Thank you for the laugh you didn't mean to send and I am very happy things went well for Matilda. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKateHepburn Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Why don't we adore the way we speak our own English, but DO adore the way it is spoken elsewhere? While I do enjoy accents from all over I'm extremely fond of a Southern accent. Especially spoken by a barely awake Georgian man when his voice is all gravelly. Darlin' is my favorite word :-) Fireants are evil! See this fella? I stepped on him! He was undoubtedly right against the door and I walked right out on top of him. He then proceeded to flip flop himself into my house. It was chaos! He was under the dining room table with all the chair legs in the way so I couldn't tell what kind he was (cottonmouths looks similar and are very poisonous) While he was freaking out, my cat turned into ninja kitty and was attacking it, my 14 year old was on the floor on all fours trying to get the cat, while I was yelling at him to get up off the floor. My 19 year old went and got the mop and was poking it and smarty pants 17 yo daughter was saying y'all need to calm down, they sense fear, as she was perched on top of the coffee table. I finally grabbed the cat by the tail and handed her off to be taken out back, grabbed the phone and called my neighbor. The snake finally went behind a bookcase, I'm sure it was grateful for the peace and quiet back there. Neighbor couldn't see it's head either so used one of those long poles with the grippy thing on it to grab it and toss it out the front door. Then, when he saw it was a water snake he picked it up and laughed. He was entitled since he was holding the snake but having felt the thing beneath my naked foot, I wasn't laughing. This is the second snake I've had in my house since last month. The other one was little and dead. I think the cat brought it in. We've had one other dead snake in the yard and 3 alive ones. They don't have anywhere to hide. They usually live in our drainage ditches in front of the house but never really come up to the house. No clue why I'm living an episode of when animals attack but I'll be glad when it stops. In better news, my eldest daughter is getting married! We've been planning fiends and having a blast! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKateHepburn Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I hate, hate, hate Palmetto bugs! Nothing like seeing a 2 inch long cockroach flying at your head. I hate when they get in the house. I swear I've hit one with dh's work boot and it turned around and gave me the finger then ran off to climb onto the ceiling and taunt me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Oh,man,Dena,I am about to fall over on the floor,trying not to laugh too loud and wake up my son(his bedroom is next to the living room and he's gotta go to work at the crack of dawn) What an ordeal! Not long after we 1st moved here last year,to a mobile home rental at the edge of some woods,I walked right up on a 4 ft. long rat snake and not knowing what kind it was at the time,just that I had never seen a yard snake that long,I vigorously killed it with a shovel.Made me sick later,when it was identified for me-at the time a rat had been making himself at home inside the trailer.Ugh!Since then our wonderful cats have adopted us and dispatch all manner of creepy things for us.Btw,we had a bobcat at the edge of the yard one evening,a baby alligator on the road in front of our yard one night,raccoons,armadillos,some tiny baby possums got inside the trailer when I was airing the place out last month,but the worst is we had a herd of wild pigs come and basically destroy the yard about half a dozen times in the past few months.Looks like a tractor has plowed it after they are done rooting for grubs and acorns(the lot is covered in gorgeous oak trees).But,I hope I never come across a snake inside!Yikes,y'all!! Kat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansmith Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Geez......you're all so brave. I'm still shaking from having to kill my biggest spider ever, two days ago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrchob Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 The spiders we have here I like as they help with mosquitos. However, living near a small lake we get bats circling in the summer. That's OK too, but I don't like to find one hanging from my shower curtain! Had a morning dove once sitting in the living room. Daughter kept trying to tell me there was a duck in the living room. There must have been something in her "but mom!" that caused me to go and look. Wasn't crazy about the squirrel training for a relay event on the pipes in the basement either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 In the South critters are a fact of life and in the past 30 years I have come full circle in my attitude towards the beneficial ones (like snakes!); one of the BIG selling feaatures for us for the new house was when the former resident described the "big" snake that stretched all the way across the driveway and after another comment I asked him if it poked up its head to look around, and after he checked to make sure I hadn't grown a second head he admitted that it did; so DH & I knew we had a resident indigo snake, which are not only endangered, but about the most beneficial snake around! We have since seen it, and hopefully some of its littermates. Mice, alas! are no longer the cute little critters I used to have as a pet, since the infestation of our old house in Havana; fortunately the snakes take care of them. We spotted a good sized armadillo scooting off the driveway Monday night as we were coming home; we have nearly half an acre of wooded lot plus two more adjacent ones if the owner ever decides to sell for a realistic price we want to get to leave as is. I do miss our big banana spiders that used to spin webs near the doors and caught most of the roaches before they got inside. I don't kill most critters (except poisonous snakes in the house, like the pygmy rattler that peeked out from under my electric skillet one AM in Jacksonville...) these days if I don't have to' most of them are only too happy to get back outdoors! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 We don't have much for poisonous snakes except rattlesnakes. They don't come around houses much. I would have died of a heart attack if I had come out the door and stepped on a snake!!!! Occasionally get a bird down the chimney and a squirrel or chipmunk sneak in. We've had a possum in the garage before. Boy are they bad-tempered. We had one squirrel that chewed up our electrical wiring and cost us a pretty penny to get repaired. Bats are ok with me outside but I'm not fond of finding them indoors. Ek-k-k-ks !! We do get a bunch of mice trying to find winter homes in the fall. It's "battle on" between me and the mice for a while. And then there's the ants - big and little - in the spring. We are winding down on the latest batch of those right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I remember the snakes, cockroaches, and alligators from my childhood in Florida. Here in Northern California suburbs ants and a paper wasps (hornets) are the biggest problem. The wasps build nests in the chimney and get into the house. It's a real pain for someone with bee venom sensitivity. We live at the edge of some farmlands and get the occasional skunk and snakes, but besides Romeo's aroma, the snakes are gopher or garter snakes and both are very beneficial. We also have lots of Canadian geese that overwinter nearby. I like their noise, but some don't. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Today the RV went into the shop for some touchups after the storm atop Cheaha. DS#3 arrives next week to spend the rest of June with us and we're taking him & the camper to Gautier State Park in MS for a week after the balloon festival. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheckMouse Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I have lived in the South for many years - Texas, Tennessee, and Florida - and have had my fill of critters! Thankful that in this area spiders are the main problem, and they are just a nuisance, not poisonous. We have a Gentleman's Agreement here in the house - if they stay out of sight, or out of reach, all is well. I don't spray poisons at them, and I don't go out of my way to reach them near the ceiling. But if they come down to Swatting Range - watch out! And I do NOT appreciate the colony that took up residence in my craft cottage over the winter I must tell you this story about my DH: Living in the "south" also included living in South America for awhile, where we had a nice enough house, but no indoor plumbing. The two-seater outhouse was very nice - painted, odor-free (if you build them right they don't smell), and a magazine rack. A spider took up residence on one wall, just above eye-level when one was seated on the throne. We came to believe the critter was purposely baiting us - no one could hit him. It was what we called a "flat-spider" and I don't know the official name for it. Very flat - and incredibly fast! They skitter sideways in a nanosecond and are gone. One could reach for a magazine - Spider stayed put; reach for the TP - Spider didn't move; stand up and walk out the door - Spider quietly watched. But make one motion toward him with a swatter - and he was gone. This went on for weeks, with the whole family trying to catch this thing. One evening my husband came into the house with a smile on his face and said, "I got him!" "Got who?" "The spider!" Turns out DH shot him! He actually took his revolver out there and shot the spider! I guess a bullet is a little faster than a nanosecond! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKateHepburn Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Holly, Mount Cheaha? Love that place! I've hiked all over that mountain as well as Little River Canyon. I sorely miss the mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotKateHepburn Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Since living in the bayou region I've met animals up close and personal that I wish I could just see from afar. We had an egret take up homekeeping in the ditch by the mailbox and he'd chase anyone who got too close. They are nearly as tall as I am! I literally peed my britches when I walked out the back door to shoo away a raccoon that turned out to be a nurtia! A large beaver/rat looking rodent. Dh turned on the light, it hissed and I ran. Pelicans are a real pain and they'll eat anything. Like your whole sandwich, paper and all, off picnic tables. We see gators all the time. Not in our yard but on the walking trail. There are no side rails and they just lay about. I did grew up with gators though so I know their behaviors. I told dh I wanted to move back home to Alabama where the animals didn't have attitudes and ran rather than trying to run me out of town lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Is DH from the South,by any chance? I know a few fellas like that down here and a coupla gals,too.omg,Still laughing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat57 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Dena,what part of 'Bama,if I may ask? I live in the last little town located on Hwy 90 before you cross the Mississippi line.I didn't really want to move back here last year,but I love the area we ended up in,wild critters and all! Kat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 CJ, that does sound a tad like overkill... Dena, we also love Cheaha State Park, but that Friday night eight inches of rain fell so hard and fast it flooded out the lower campground, on the lake, and rangers evacuated people by boat and roads and trails were closed until after noon. Kat, DH & I shopped for houses for more than two years, from south of Ocala to northern Nassau County, FL and west to Baldwin County, AL. We paddle, bike and hike, and this is where we ended up; almost but not quite still in FL!lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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