# I May Have to Move



## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

:shock: 
I just fed Snarf a beetle. 
Who was crawling across the livingroom. :shock: 
Who I almost stepped on. :shock: 
With BARE feet.

Will this horror never end. :roll: 

I think I'll just stay here on the couch for a few days, until Jamie solves this problem. :twisted:


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

:lol: :lol: The only thing worse would be if it goes missing and hides in the forest like carpet, then there would be no telling when someone could step on it...okay maybe that didn't help out so much :lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

My concern is...where the heck are they coming from?? This is the second one in two days. :shock: 

The irony? I check my mealie bin ten times a day, wondering why THOSE beetles aren't hatching. :lol:


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

That is definitely strange lol  Is there any chance that maybe a mealworm or something got dropped? I've had that happen before, luckily I found it but I could see where it might have found a hiding spot and morphed into an alien then beetle and set out for food.


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## hercsmom (Jul 6, 2010)

Ewww! I once found a cricket in my kitchen like an inch away from the light switch. Then, as if that'd not bad enough, hubby says to me "Imagine what kind of pet someone has that eats live crickets!" We didn't have Herc back then, so the first thing that came to mind was a giant snake. I bet Snarf was happy with the beetle.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

Where I used to live, we had all kinds of bugs...giant roaches, the kind they call palmetto bugs, spiders, ants, earwigs, silverfish...I found a snake once and a mouse another time. Another night there was a tarantula on my doorstep. Once a giant cloud of black flies appeared on one of my walls, all within about an hour. That one really creeped me out, it was like something out of a scary movie. I also learned while I was living there, that ****roaches mate tail to tail...kind of like when you see two UPS trucks parked back to back so they can load from one to the other.

Anyhow, when we were living in bug **** I had to have the exterminator come out every couple of weeks. He said what he used was safe for hedgehogs, birds, fish, and kids, and we never had any problems with it. Now that I own a house, I'm too cheap to have the exterminator out often enough to be effective, so I use Terro liquid in the kitchen (fill soda caps with it, place near electrical outlets where ants come in). I've made my yard as toad-friendly as possible, and they take care of the outdoor bugs for me.

Oh, one thing we have in the house that I can't stand are wolf spiders. My carpet is wolf-spider-colored. I've been bitten three times since we moved in. One of the times was by a little black spider with pincers instead of front legs.


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## hercsmom (Jul 6, 2010)

I knew I shouldn't have done that. I just googled palmetto bugs and wolf spiders. OMG!! :shock:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It's not a good idea to feed a beetle you find crawling in your house. If you live in an apartment or row house, who knows what pesticides it may have been exposed to. Even in your own house who knows what it may have come in contact with.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

@Judi: I completely understand you!!! I grew up in Brazil, land of the palmetto bug! They just walk around everywhere over there. I remember this time I was peacefully standing on a sidewalk waiting for the bus... I look down at my feet and there was a palmetto bug crawling up my boot! Aaaaarrrrggh! I almost had a heart attack, they're the most disgusting creature!  

The wolf spiders were always common during summer months... I had a dog that would chase then and bring them inside our house when they were dead. :? 

Fun times.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Yes, Snarf LOVED the beetle...if I had a hedgie that could you know: HUNT, I could've put him on the floor rather than trying for 20 minutes to get the evil little beetle in the container (I had to use chopsticks  ) They're slippery little devils. :roll: 

HM...what were you thinking? You looked them up???!!! Nothing good can come of something that has 'wolf' and 'spider' in its name.

Nancy...I am 100% sure this escapee came from the mealies I had on the counter a few weeks ago - I caught one crawling up the chopstick to escape...and I found two aliens a week ago near the crimescene and this dude was crawling away from said crimescene and believe me - had he been out and about any sooner - I woulda noticed....eeeewwww...everything is getting pulled out of that area today...sigh...and - you gotta love mountain living - no pesticides/chemicals allowed! WOO HOO!!! Dandelion fields forever... Tho' I am kinda surprised the huge dust bunnies under the fridge didn't get him when he walked by...

Judi and suasana... :shock: I had so many things and I wanted to say after reading your post but the further I read, the more my mouth kept dropping open...I looked like a freaking guppy... :shock: is all I can manage...


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

MissC I don't know what you're talking about. :lol: It was all a good experience. Today I am able to touch mealworms and even waxworms (nasty flabby little buggers.). I also care for our vegetable garden and three flower beds without freaking out about the bugs (and there are many.) Spiders are my friends nowadays. They eat unfriendly bugs.  

Now, if you ask if I have any intention of moving back to the land of the palmetto bugs, the answer is a big NO! They are scary. And they can fly and will land on your back during Summer when you're wearing a tank top! :shock:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Facts about palmetto bugs:

- aka the American ****roach
- can run over three miles an hour. awesome.
- has a pair of large compound eyes each having over 2000 individual lenses (you all know how i feel about creepy bug eyes)
- usually grows to a length of 1½ inch to 2 inches
- when disturbed, often emits a strong, disagreeable odor, somewhat reminiscent of amaretto WTF? I will NEVER drink amaretto again.
- The ****roach is an omnivore, that is, it eats everything edible, animal and vegetable. So if we do not move around too much while sleeping they might be inclined to nibble on our earlobes at night :shock:  

I stopped researching at this point.


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## abrowndog (Nov 26, 2010)

You really need to warn people before they open threads like this. I couldn't get past the first mention of the B word without wanting to yarf. I would appreciate your consideration for MY feelings in this matter moving forward.

Thank you.

:x


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

MissC said:


> The ****roach is an omnivore, that is, it eats everything edible, animal and vegetable. So if we do not move around too much while sleeping they might be inclined to nibble on our earlobes at night :shock:
> 
> I stopped researching at this point.


I did some work with a NPO back when I was still studying Nutrition, and for some time we were working at a VERY poor location. There was this toddler who was so malnourished he could barely move. He had open sores from rat bites and at night the ****roaches would try to eat from his sores. It was the saddest thing I've ever saw in my life. Sorry, I don't know why I shared this with everybody.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> I did some work with a NPO back when I was still studying Nutrition, and for some time we were working at a VERY poor location. There was this toddler who was so malnourished he could barely move. He had open sores from rat bites and at night the ****roaches would try to eat from his sores. It was the saddest thing I've ever saw in my life. Sorry, I don't know why I shared this with everybody.


  I worked in the inner city and saw so much...there was just so so *much*...

You shared so it won't stay inside and make your head explode.

"Let it go. Let it out. 
Let it all unravel. Let it free 
And it can be a path on which to travel.


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