Kitty Fear Factor

ROFL Joyce the dragonfly killer! I saw that clicking beetle - actually, it
had a shiny back, like a big black beetle, but they were flying around a
street light - in Ohio, once, long ago, the only time I was ever in Ohio (a
long trip). Never saw them anywhere else; maybe clicking beetles live only
in Ohio; whatta I know? If so, Ohio cats ought to have a lot of fun with
those.
Prey with sound FX. Scared me at the time.


wrote in message
...
: Hopitus2 wrote:
:
: Pretty good, Joyce, but "huge, honkin' cockroach *that flies*" is
: more accurate.
:
: Actually, you'll probably think this is weird, but bugs that fly don't
: bother me nearly as much as ones that don't. (OK, maybe a giant flying
: cockroach would, but I've never seen one, despite numerous trips to
: southern Florida.) But most flying insects (with the exception of
: *stinging* flying insects - a separate subject) don't bother me. They
: might annoy me (eg, mosquitoes), but it's not a squicky type of thing.
:
: A crawling insect, once it's crawling on me, can't fly away, and **who
: knows** where on me it might crawl?? At least a flying insect will fly
: away if I shoo it.
:
: (Although, I do have a story about that. One time I went to a party with
: a friend, so I didn't know most of the people there. It was out in the
: country, held outdoors during the day. There were these enormous flying
: bugs, like dragonflies except much bigger and weirder-looking. There were
: a bunch of nature-lovers at the party, and they were marvelling at these
: bugs. I wasn't overly concerned about them, until one landed on me. I
tried
: to shoo it away, but it *clung* to me. So I tried to (gently) pull it off,
: but it wouldn't let go. Suddenly I panicked and tried to brush it off,
*not*
: so gently, and it fell off, to the ground, looking sort of injured. One of
: the nature-lovers jumped up, picked up the insect and hurried it away from
: the wussy city-dweller. Then she came back and started railing at me
about
: it: "It's just a bug! It wasn't going to hurt you! You almost killed it!
Blah
: blah blah..." Ten minutes later, after it was determined that the insect
was
: safe and recovered from its brush with my panic, she was still ranting at
me!)
:
: Joyce, menace to giant flying insects everywhere

On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 06:51:49 -0500, "Hopitus2"
wrote:

ROFL Joyce the dragonfly killer! I saw that clicking beetle - actually, it
had a shiny back, like a big black beetle, but they were flying around a
street light - in Ohio, once, long ago, the only time I was ever in Ohio (a
long trip). Never saw them anywhere else; maybe clicking beetles live only
in Ohio; whatta I know? If so, Ohio cats ought to have a lot of fun with
those.
Prey with sound FX. Scared me at the time.

The ones that you saw in Ohio were probably June Bugs. They are pesky
and are attracted to street lights, porch lights, room lights, etc.

The clicking beetles are Click Beetles and they do look like a
cockroach.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/en.../clickbee.html

SIZE: 1/4 to 3/4 inch (6.4-19.1mm)

COLOR: Brown

DESCRIPTION: These flattened, elongate, brown beetles are about 1/4 to
3/4 inch long. On their underside, they have a click mechanism that
aids them in defense and righting themselves when they are turned
upside down. They release this mechanism with an audible "click" which
causes the head to snap back with such force that they can be
propelled into the air as much as several inches.

Nan

wrote:
Sherry wrote:

What *is* a palmetto bug anyway? (I gather it's something
decidedly icky)

As far as I can tell, it's a Floridian euphemism for "huge honkin'
cockroach".

Joyce

Ahhh.. something like what we canucks call a Junebug?

Kristy
--
((
/\ /\ ))
/@ @\ ((
\ _* _/\\\\\\
/ * \
/ \ /\
/ \ //
/ \ //
| | | | | |/
# # # #
*Bomber*

Hopitus2 wrote:
Pretty good, Joyce, but "huge, honkin' cockroach *that flies*" is more
accurate. I think they get their name from living in the numerous
palmetto trees down here. Up north, I've seen something similar, in
size and shape, but it "clicks" (I swear!). Don't have the faintest
what *that's* called!

It's a Junebug... we get em here in NB, Canada too.. ick ick ick shudder....

Damn things try to get in thru the window and just keep thwacking against it
til they knock themselves silly.

Kristy

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 11:30:12 GMT, wrote:

Hopitus2 wrote:

Pretty good, Joyce, but "huge, honkin' cockroach *that flies*" is
more accurate.

Actually, you'll probably think this is weird, but bugs that fly don't
bother me nearly as much as ones that don't. (OK, maybe a giant flying
cockroach would, but I've never seen one, despite numerous trips to
southern Florida.) But most flying insects (with the exception of
*stinging* flying insects - a separate subject) don't bother me. They
might annoy me (eg, mosquitoes), but it's not a squicky type of thing.

A crawling insect, once it's crawling on me, can't fly away, and **who
knows** where on me it might crawl?? At least a flying insect will fly
away if I shoo it.

(Although, I do have a story about that. One time I went to a party with
a friend, so I didn't know most of the people there. It was out in the
country, held outdoors during the day. There were these enormous flying
bugs, like dragonflies except much bigger and weirder-looking. There were
a bunch of nature-lovers at the party, and they were marvelling at these
bugs. I wasn't overly concerned about them, until one landed on me. I tried
to shoo it away, but it *clung* to me. So I tried to (gently) pull it off,
but it wouldn't let go. Suddenly I panicked and tried to brush it off, *not*
so gently, and it fell off, to the ground, looking sort of injured. One of
the nature-lovers jumped up, picked up the insect and hurried it away from
the wussy city-dweller. Then she came back and started railing at me about
it: "It's just a bug! It wasn't going to hurt you! You almost killed it! Blah
blah blah..." Ten minutes later, after it was determined that the insect was
safe and recovered from its brush with my panic, she was still ranting at me!)

Joyce, menace to giant flying insects everywhere
Could it have been a Praying Mantis? They are weird looking but a
very beneficial bug. Years ago I saw an old man trying to beat one to
death with his cane -- the big bully. Gardeners stock them in
their gardens to help eliminate other bugs.

I'm with you on creepy crawley spiders -- I hate them

Sherry wrote:

Bastet has actually dropped a LIVE palmetto bug in my lap!!! Feel lucky you
didn't have to feel it;s legs on your skin!!! EWWWWWWW!!!! (shudders)




What *is* a palmetto bug anyway? (I gather it's something decidedly icky)

Sherry


I couldn't resist responding to this one. I *hate* palmetto bugs!! I
swear you could saddle one and ride it into the sunset.

Julie

They are desribed - and pictured - at
http://www.homestead.com/PALM_Doctor/palm11.html

One of the group commonly referred to as "Palmetto Bugs", the American
roach is the largest (1-3/8" to 2-1/8") of the roaches infesting homes.
It has reddish brown wings and is a good flyer. American roaches often
invade from sewer systems and heavily mulched areas. The female attaches
the egg capsule, containing 15-18 eggs, in high areas in garages,
closets, utility rooms and fireplaces. Found nearly anywhere in the
house, American roaches contaminate food, carry disease, damage book
bindings, fabrics and wallpaper. Or, as you can see, Palmetto bugs are
"your worse nightmare!"

"OU812?" wrote in message
...
Hopitus2 wrote:
Pretty good, Joyce, but "huge, honkin' cockroach *that flies*" is more
accurate. I think they get their name from living in the numerous
palmetto trees down here. Up north, I've seen something similar, in
size and shape, but it "clicks" (I swear!). Don't have the faintest
what *that's* called!

It's a Junebug... we get em here in NB, Canada too.. ick ick ick
shudder....

Damn things try to get in thru the window and just keep thwacking against
it
til they knock themselves silly.
Kristy

Uh, are you sure? I'm a Canuck too, but here in Ontario the June bugs are
brown with a hard shell, and the ones I remember from earlier years were
bigger, and black. Whereas cockroaches I've seen in the south are flat, much
softer-shelled and very squishy if you step on them. BTW cockroaches are
among the oldest inhabitants of the earth, and will probably outlast us.

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 11:03:33 -0700, m. L. Briggs
wrote:

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 11:30:12 GMT, wrote:

Hopitus2 wrote:

Snip
(Although, I do have a story about that. One time I went to a party with
a friend, so I didn't know most of the people there. It was out in the
country, held outdoors during the day. There were these enormous flying
bugs, like dragonflies except much bigger and weirder-looking. There were
a bunch of nature-lovers at the party, and they were marvelling at these
bugs. I wasn't overly concerned about them, until one landed on me. I tried
to shoo it away, but it *clung* to me. So I tried to (gently) pull it off,
but it wouldn't let go. Suddenly I panicked and tried to brush it off, *not*
so gently, and it fell off, to the ground, looking sort of injured. One of
the nature-lovers jumped up, picked up the insect and hurried it away from
the wussy city-dweller. Then she came back and started railing at me about
it: "It's just a bug! It wasn't going to hurt you! You almost killed it! Blah
blah blah..." Ten minutes later, after it was determined that the insect was
safe and recovered from its brush with my panic, she was still ranting at me!)

Joyce, menace to giant flying insects everywhere
Could it have been a Praying Mantis? They are weird looking but a
very beneficial bug. Years ago I saw an old man trying to beat one to
death with his cane -- the big bully. Gardeners stock them in
their gardens to help eliminate other bugs.

I'm with you on creepy crawley spiders -- I hate them

I didn't think of a mantis, but going back and re-reading the
description guess it could be. Anyway, I always figured that a praying
mantis is a pretty neat bug. Weird looking, an extremely efficient
predator as for as other bugs are concerned, but harmless to people.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html

m. L. Briggs wrote:

There were these enormous flying
bugs, like dragonflies except much bigger and weirder-looking.

Could it have been a Praying Mantis?

No, not a mantis. I've seen those - we had them in Massachusetts.
They're green, as I remember. When I was about 6 or 7 years old in
day camp during the summer, I remember the counsellor telling us
that we should *never*, *ever* kill a praying mantis. Actually, I
think they were legally protected at the time. (Also, do mantises
fly? They jump, but I don't think they have wings.)

No, these weird-looking bugs actually were kind of interesting -
until one landed on me, LOL. They were brown or maybe black. I
have no idea what they were. This was in Sonoma County, CA, if that
helps.

Joyce

On 2003-12-08, Sherry wrote:

What *is* a palmetto bug anyway? (I gather it's something decidedly icky)

It's Floridan for roach. Large, flying ones.