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Blue in a Red State Donating Member (639 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:30 AM
Original message
Are you squeamish about any particular insect/arachnid?
I can't stand scorpions in the house and the season will soon be here. Luckily, the new catgirl finds them great fun. Walking sticks also freak me out because here in Texas, they get a foot long or so if the weather is agreeable to them.

What creepy crawlies push your ick buttons?
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The Velveteen Ocelot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:33 AM
Response to Original message
1. June bugs are creepy because they're big
and go *thwack* against the windows. The cats eat them. Centipedes are a sort of a gross-out, too, but most other arthropods don't bother me. We don't have scorpions or big spiders here, fortunately.
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BigMcLargehuge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:33 AM
Response to Original message
2. cockroaches
blech
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ElsewheresDaughter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:38 AM
Response to Reply #2
7. call me howard huges too. cockroaches
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starroute Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:40 AM
Response to Reply #2
9. Me too
I grew up in New York City, and one year the people next door had the exterminators in and all the cockroaches came over to visit us. They got into *everything.* They'd walk across the wall at dinnertime and fall onto the table. They'd fall into the tub while you were bathing. Once, I started sprinkling grated cheese on my spaghetti and it was full of little baby cockroaches.

Ick, ick, ick, ick ick.

There was a banner ad with an animated cockroach on some site I went to the other day, and I couldn't stand to look at it. I had to close the tab.
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driver8 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 04:24 AM
Response to Reply #2
21. I cannot stand cockroaches! They give me the creeps. n/t
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mitchtv Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:00 PM
Response to Reply #21
31. Cockroaches,
grew up in NYC.
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kayleybeth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:34 AM
Response to Original message
3. All of 'em
Spiders and centipedes especially creep me out.
:scared:
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A-Schwarzenegger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:35 AM
Response to Original message
4. beanbugs
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:36 AM
Response to Original message
5. yeah, bats freak me out n/t
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medeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:00 PM
Response to Reply #5
32. had one in bedroom
husband killed it with broom...felt bad about it.

It had a cute face...we just didn't know how to get rid of it.
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hfojvt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:36 PM
Response to Reply #32
42. if you open a door or window
they will fly out, if it is night. They do not like to fly in the daylight. However, if they fly out, chances are they will come back unless you block whatever hole they are using to get in.
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MercutioATC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:37 AM
Response to Original message
6. Anything that flies.
I really don't like flying insects.
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msgadget Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:40 AM
Response to Original message
8. Not an insect or arachnid,
those I can take. But, slugs (mollusks) ...:puke:

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Floogeldy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:43 AM
Response to Original message
10. Only the ones that crawl down my throat at night!
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smbolisnch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:51 AM
Response to Original message
11. I am terrified of spiders of any kind.
I have no idea why, but I am absolutely terrified. I can't even watch them on TV.
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Erika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:53 AM
Response to Original message
12. Earwigs
Every since the twilight zone episode. Spiders may crawl on you to keep warm during the night but that's different to what EARwigs might do.
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Dookus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:56 AM
Response to Original message
13. only two
earwigs and Jerusalem Crickets.

I never heard of the damned things until my cat caught one years ago. I was SO sure it was a poisonous alien I went to the library to look it up. Turns out it's harmless. But it's the most disgusting bug I've ever seen.

I've encountered a few more in my time here in California, and I STILL believe there oughtta be a warning at the state line telling people you might encounter one of these beasts.

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montana_hazeleyes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 04:59 AM
Response to Reply #13
22. All my life I've been creeped out by earwigs.
I didn't think of the Jerusalem Crickets until I saw your post. As kids we called them potato bugs.(don't know where that came from).

One night when I was a kid the lady next door came running over all freaked out. She had gotten into bed and felt something moving and it was a potato bug!

:scared:

She was so distressed that she and her 2 daughters spent the night with us.
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Dookus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:23 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. well sure she was freaked out
it's a mighty scary bug! And they're HUGE!

Yes, I've heard them called potato bugs, too. All I know is we didn't have them in New York where I grew up, and when I saw them here in CA, it was pretty damned freaky.
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Beaverhausen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #23
30. A friend's cat brought one in. She saved it. We were sure it was an alien
too. They are the funkiest looking things ever!!!
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mitchtv Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:03 PM
Response to Reply #23
33. not all that harmless
I understand they can give a hardy bite
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Archae Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:51 AM
Response to Original message
14. Any bug that has...
A needle on it's ass.
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maveric Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:54 AM
Response to Original message
15. MAGGOTS! EEWWWWWWWW!
:puke:
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ashling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 03:12 AM
Response to Original message
16. Scorpions are cool
OK, they can get a little out of hand out here in central Texas. I live out in the country in an old house that was built in 1938. We have had plenty of them in the house.

Also tarantulas

Praying Mantises are really neat
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Blue in a Red State Donating Member (639 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #16
47. Tarantulas are kinda cool
Here's one that checked out our patio a couple years back.

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Moloch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 03:50 AM
Response to Original message
17. I have a definite phobia of millipedes
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UdoKier Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 03:59 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. I can deal with millipedes. Used to catch and play with them...
But I'm totally freaked by centipedes. They move fast and freaky, and are poisonous.





:scared:
:puke:
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Beaverhausen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:58 PM
Response to Reply #18
28. These are what get to me, too. I like spiders but can't stand these guys
and I had an apt.on the third floor and I somehow attracted these disgusting things. The one in my bed was the worst. And this was in Philadelphia!!!
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gypsy11 Donating Member (286 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:49 PM
Response to Reply #18
46. Me too
I hate, HATE! centipedes. Even the picture freaks me out. :scared:
I don't like millipedes either.
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njdemocrat106 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 04:04 AM
Response to Original message
19. We get some pretty big nasty spiders here in summer
In springtime though, you have to watch out for disgusting fuzzy gypsy moth caterpillars and those disgusting fuzzy-white cocoons they make.
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Rhiannon12866 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 04:07 AM
Response to Original message
20. No, not really
The only insects I will kill are mosquitoes, since they bite and can cause heartworm in dogs, and I have two. Lately, there seem to have been more ants, than usual, but I take them outside. Call me crazy, but that's what I do. I also release spiders. But we don't have scorpions here in the North Country. That does sound alarming!:shrug:
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Lavender Brown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:24 PM
Response to Original message
24. Daddy Long Legs
:scared:
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yardwork Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:26 PM
Response to Original message
25. Black Widow Spiders
They're in our crawlspace and they get into our garage. I just hate them.

I'm not too keen on any spiders, come to think of it.
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medeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #25
29. dr friend died from black widow
was bit 30 times...thought it was itchy sweater and kept scratching the critter. Hospital was out of anti venom and national guard couldn't fly in it fast enough.

don't like them a bit.
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yardwork Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 06:35 PM
Response to Reply #29
50. That's an incredible story.
I've never been bitten but people say that their bite hurts like a mother. How could a person allow themselves to be bitten 30 times and just think it was an itchy sweater?
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lpbk2713 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:30 PM
Response to Original message
26. Slugs
Edited on Tue Feb-08-05 01:31 PM by lpbk2713


I kill them on sight.
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Blue Diadem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 01:56 PM
Response to Original message
27. carpenter bees and horse and deer flies
The male carpenter bees are awful, they try to intimidate by hovering directly in front of your face at eye level. I hate seeing any bug up that close and personal. They don't sting so that's not a worry. The female on the other hand does but I don't like sticking around to find out which sex it is. We deal with them just about every year, drilling holes in one outbuilding or the other.


Horse and deer flies on the other hand will bite the heck out of ya..

I might add..tennis rackets work particularly well.

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Bonhomme Richard Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:04 PM
Response to Original message
34. Ticks freak me out. n/t
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Floogeldy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:15 PM
Response to Original message
35. Luv me!


I can't help it. I didn't ask to be born this way.

:loveya:
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Frogtutor Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:15 PM
Response to Original message
36. Water Bugs (I guess they're a type of cockroach, but gigantic)
They come in from outside. We used to live in a pretty old house that was not very well sealed and had pier and beam construction; we had them all the time, and everywhere. I used to have nightmares about them.

Then we moved to a nice, new house with a concrete slab foundation. After several months, we had yet to see one of these mutant creatures in our new house. All was well.

Then that friggin' Orkin commerical came on one night; the one with the giant cockroach that looks like it's crawling on your TV screen? My son and I both tried to climb up the wall before realizing it was just part of the commercial.

I HATE Orkin.
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movie_girl99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #36
40. omg the same thing happened to me
we lived in a 60 year old pier and beam house with huge trees. We tried everything possible besides nuking the whole house. we never could get rid of them. so we too moved into a slab house and the whole 8 years we lived there maybe only saw 3-4 and they came through the cat door.
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Frogtutor Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #40
44. Did the Orkin commericial get you, too?
I swear I seriously considered suing them for mental distress...

;)
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EstimatedProphet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:18 PM
Response to Original message
37. I hate the big black/yellow garden spiders
I've walked facefirst into webs too often. Makes me feel like Frodo fighting Shelob.
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Frogtutor Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:24 PM
Response to Original message
38. I wish I had bats to eat all the damn mosquitoes!
Edited on Tue Feb-08-05 02:28 PM by Frogtutor
Seriously, I wish I could attract bats to my yard; mosquitoes are a year-round problem.

In my new house we have (sometimes rather large) wolf spiders. They don't freak me out TOO much; they're harmless, eat other bugs, and generally stay out of my way.

My husband has found a couple of black widows outside, and in the garage. I wasn't too worried until one was found in my house, between a cabinet and a cardboard box that hasn't been moved in years. Now I'm wary.

I generally dislike most insects, except lady bugs, butterflies, and dragon flies; I'm not freaked out by crickets, grasshoppers, praying mantises or walking sticks.

I'm superstitious about killing crickets (I believe it's bad luck), and my son has taken on my belief. He catches the crickets in the house and sets them free outside!
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giant_robot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:46 PM
Response to Reply #38
45. Build a bat house!
Seriously, my parents have a place on a lake with lots of bats and my mother has been wanting a bat house for years. Don't worry about the rabies stories or bats getting caught in your hair. Bats are very clean and beneficial.

http://www.batconservation.org/content/bathouse/bathouse.htm
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Frogtutor Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #45
49. I have thought about buying or building one,
but as far as I know there aren't any bats around locally. I'm not sure how to find out, or how to attract them if there are!
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Frogtutor Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:34 PM
Response to Original message
39. Oh yeah! Fire ants; not so much creepy, but EVIL n/t
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Malikshah Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:36 PM
Response to Original message
41. Spiders--pure and simple-- they freak me out
I'm fine w/ snakes, rats, mice, etc.

Spiders-- small, large--etc. not good.

I turn into the epitome of a "nelly queen" (minus the scream) and have the shakes for a while. My partner has an issue with rats--
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u4ic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 02:37 PM
Response to Original message
43. silverfish
Our last apartment had an infestation. They were even climbing up the walls in the bathroom. A couple of times I found them in bread I had just baked and left out to cool. :puke:

Couldn't move out of there fast enough.

And anything with more than 4 legs creeps me out something terrible. Snakes don't bother me...but spiders do. A lot.
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Placebo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 03:52 PM
Response to Original message
48. i can't deal with bugs. period.
if i see even a little one i want to crawl up the walls, and sometimes do. they're one of my few fears. in the summer i just want to die, when all the 'summer bugs' come out and are crawling all over the house, like 'house centipedes' i see scurrying across the WALLS or the FLOOR, *cue psychotic uncontrollable screaming*
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Xipe Totec Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-08-05 06:41 PM
Response to Original message
51. Cow Killers
Wingless wasps with 1/4" stingers. Nasty buggers. Guess why they call them cow killers...


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