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BS: Varmints
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:19 AM Hahahaaaagh Steve, your description of this made me laugh! So kind of you not to kill the wasp - and I hope the sting site is no longer painful. Anyone had any bedbugs? We haven't, but apparently they're all over France, and might invade UK too. I had some many years ago in the seventies when I visited Morocco all alone. I stayed in a little B&B place in Tangier, and noticed bedbugs on the bottom sheet. I did what travellers were advised in those days - you pick up a wet bar of soap and dab it all over the beasties, trapping them. Then you chuck the soap away. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 05 Nov 23 - 09:34 AM I spotted a ground squirrel / chipmunk the other day. Those are hard to spot, I can tell you. They don't parade themselves about the way the fat grey squirrels do. The ground squirrels favor brush or ground cover, and they run for cover REALLY fast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 31 Oct 23 - 08:58 PM It is the season when the stinkbugs come indoors. I never notice them so much in the spring when they come out at first; it's when the warm weather ends and it gets cold that they turn up on walls and such. They're harmless enough, just a nuisance. These fly, also. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 05 Nov 23 - 09:40 AM I hate grey squirrels. If I had my way I'd put them all in a big boat and send them back to you lot who live on the wrong side of the Atlantic. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 01 Nov 23 - 06:37 AM Bugs that get into our house are never squished. Bluebottles are hassled towards an open door. Spiders in the bath or shower are released on to the bathroom floor. They die if you wash them down the plug hole. Big, scary moths (all harmless) are lured towards brighter lights near the back door. Woodlice are better off outside, so that's where I put them. There's a very impressive house spider living in our porch. She's been there for weeks and I go and have a chat with her before I lock up to go to bed (that's what red wine can do for you). Mrs Steve, severely arachnophobic, calls her our resident tarantula. I even rescued that bloody wasp last Saturday, the one that stung my crotch three times. The resulting big, red, incredibly itchy patch of skin that's in a place I can scratch only when no-one's looking is only now settling down. I once rescued a somewhat moribund bumblebee that was on the path outside, in severe danger of being stood on. I put it on the lawn. A hour later I changed into my indoor shoes that I'd left outside. The bee had crawled back over the path, unbeknown to me, and taken shelter in my shoe. I got stung on the ball of my foot and couldn't walk for the rest of the day. Now was that fair, I ask you... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:43 AM I have a huge patch of itchy red skin now. Doctor Google tells me that it's probably "a mild allergic reaction." As I'm prone to developing cellulitis I can't take any chances, so I've started taking my "rescue antibiotics" just in case. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 28 Oct 23 - 07:48 PM Advance warning: this post contains trauma but no pornography... This morning I'd just emerged from the shower, clean-livin' chap that I am, got nice and dry as you do, went to my knicker drawer to grab a pair of boxers, slipped 'em on... Now the trauma. Lurking inside the boxers, Gawd knows how it got there, was a queen wasp. Presumably trying to find somewhere cosy to hibernate. Well it clearly wasn't happy to make intimate acquaintance with my, er, "chappies' department", so it stung me. Good and proper. Three times, approx. half an inch from the top of my inside leg. I suppose I should be grateful that it didn't choose an even more delicate bit to sting, but it was painful enough, I tell you. The poor beast fell on the bedroom floor. I rescued it and released it into the wild. 'Twas not her fault that she was obliged to defend herself. Apparently, wasps can sting multiple times without harming themselves, but they are not inclined to sting people unless they feel mortally threatened. I'm rather fond of them. The pain lasted about three hours then I was fine. Mrs Steve found the whole thing extremely amusing, given the site of the stinging. Doubtless (knowing her) she'll dine out on this big time, exaggerating the site of the stinging to good effect... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Oct 23 - 11:01 PM If they're similar to the stink bug family down here, whenever you swat or squash one they give off a cloying sweet scent. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Donuel Date: 05 Nov 23 - 11:11 AM I love the deer that saunter through our yard every morning. Today there were 3 fawns without their mom. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 27 Aug 23 - 11:01 AM This morning's roadkill tally included a very young, small raccoon. More plump than long, and a tiny ringed tail, poor thing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Oct 23 - 04:56 PM Sitting in me garden this afternoon, with an almost freakish day's weather for this time of the year (sunshiny and 73F), I was watching the Liverpool match on my iPhone when a hummingbird hawk moth flew over and sat on my hand! He or she glowered at me and I sort of glowered back and I said, "Hello, mate!" It was soon gone (though it did a quick return a minute later). We've seen a few of them this summer and we saw lots one summer about 25 years ago. Other than that, nothing. So what a treat. Makes life worth living, a thing like that! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Donuel Date: 05 Nov 23 - 11:11 AM I love the deer that saunter through our yard every morning. Today there were 3 fawns without their mom. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 05 Nov 23 - 09:40 AM I hate grey squirrels. If I had my way I'd put them all in a big boat and send them back to you lot who live on the wrong side of the Atlantic. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 05 Nov 23 - 09:34 AM I spotted a ground squirrel / chipmunk the other day. Those are hard to spot, I can tell you. They don't parade themselves about the way the fat grey squirrels do. The ground squirrels favor brush or ground cover, and they run for cover REALLY fast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 01 Nov 23 - 06:37 AM Bugs that get into our house are never squished. Bluebottles are hassled towards an open door. Spiders in the bath or shower are released on to the bathroom floor. They die if you wash them down the plug hole. Big, scary moths (all harmless) are lured towards brighter lights near the back door. Woodlice are better off outside, so that's where I put them. There's a very impressive house spider living in our porch. She's been there for weeks and I go and have a chat with her before I lock up to go to bed (that's what red wine can do for you). Mrs Steve, severely arachnophobic, calls her our resident tarantula. I even rescued that bloody wasp last Saturday, the one that stung my crotch three times. The resulting big, red, incredibly itchy patch of skin that's in a place I can scratch only when no-one's looking is only now settling down. I once rescued a somewhat moribund bumblebee that was on the path outside, in severe danger of being stood on. I put it on the lawn. A hour later I changed into my indoor shoes that I'd left outside. The bee had crawled back over the path, unbeknown to me, and taken shelter in my shoe. I got stung on the ball of my foot and couldn't walk for the rest of the day. Now was that fair, I ask you... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Oct 23 - 11:01 PM If they're similar to the stink bug family down here, whenever you swat or squash one they give off a cloying sweet scent. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 31 Oct 23 - 08:58 PM It is the season when the stinkbugs come indoors. I never notice them so much in the spring when they come out at first; it's when the warm weather ends and it gets cold that they turn up on walls and such. They're harmless enough, just a nuisance. These fly, also. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:43 AM I have a huge patch of itchy red skin now. Doctor Google tells me that it's probably "a mild allergic reaction." As I'm prone to developing cellulitis I can't take any chances, so I've started taking my "rescue antibiotics" just in case. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 29 Oct 23 - 11:19 AM Hahahaaaagh Steve, your description of this made me laugh! So kind of you not to kill the wasp - and I hope the sting site is no longer painful. Anyone had any bedbugs? We haven't, but apparently they're all over France, and might invade UK too. I had some many years ago in the seventies when I visited Morocco all alone. I stayed in a little B&B place in Tangier, and noticed bedbugs on the bottom sheet. I did what travellers were advised in those days - you pick up a wet bar of soap and dab it all over the beasties, trapping them. Then you chuck the soap away. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 28 Oct 23 - 07:48 PM Advance warning: this post contains trauma but no pornography... This morning I'd just emerged from the shower, clean-livin' chap that I am, got nice and dry as you do, went to my knicker drawer to grab a pair of boxers, slipped 'em on... Now the trauma. Lurking inside the boxers, Gawd knows how it got there, was a queen wasp. Presumably trying to find somewhere cosy to hibernate. Well it clearly wasn't happy to make intimate acquaintance with my, er, "chappies' department", so it stung me. Good and proper. Three times, approx. half an inch from the top of my inside leg. I suppose I should be grateful that it didn't choose an even more delicate bit to sting, but it was painful enough, I tell you. The poor beast fell on the bedroom floor. I rescued it and released it into the wild. 'Twas not her fault that she was obliged to defend herself. Apparently, wasps can sting multiple times without harming themselves, but they are not inclined to sting people unless they feel mortally threatened. I'm rather fond of them. The pain lasted about three hours then I was fine. Mrs Steve found the whole thing extremely amusing, given the site of the stinging. Doubtless (knowing her) she'll dine out on this big time, exaggerating the site of the stinging to good effect... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 08 Oct 23 - 04:56 PM Sitting in me garden this afternoon, with an almost freakish day's weather for this time of the year (sunshiny and 73F), I was watching the Liverpool match on my iPhone when a hummingbird hawk moth flew over and sat on my hand! He or she glowered at me and I sort of glowered back and I said, "Hello, mate!" It was soon gone (though it did a quick return a minute later). We've seen a few of them this summer and we saw lots one summer about 25 years ago. Other than that, nothing. So what a treat. Makes life worth living, a thing like that! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 27 Aug 23 - 11:01 AM This morning's roadkill tally included a very young, small raccoon. More plump than long, and a tiny ringed tail, poor thing. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 05 Aug 23 - 10:53 AM Bears, rabbits, chipmunks ... one animal I have not seen would be foxes, this summer. And the crows are a hoot. One of them sounds as though it is cursing when it caws to the other crows. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 29 Jul 23 - 12:47 PM Yesterday I was sitting at the patio tables when a small young squirrel came to call. It moved with purpose across the lawn and up the concrete steps. But when I moved, it frightened the squirrel away completely. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 25 Jul 23 - 10:22 PM It's curious that there should be so many rabbits when the coyotes are also numerous hereabouts. You would think the coyotes would thin the rabbits out somewhat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 24 Jul 23 - 02:40 AM We've noticed a lot of roadkill at the sides of our Norfolk lanes. Yesterday there was a dead buzzard, a grey squirrel and a beautiful orange fox being eaten by several magpies. Also a dead badger and a muntjac deer. It's sad, but these creatures mosey out in front of moving traffic and Wham! It's impossible to avoid them, and a flying casualty can smash ones windscreen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 23 Jul 23 - 08:13 PM Rabbits are turning up all over the place where I am staying. The front door has a rabbit hiding under the front steps. The rabbit comes out to graze on dandelion leaves, and if you spook him, he scurries under the steps. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 21 Jul 23 - 09:33 AM I narrowly avoided running my car into a bear. It was a little bear, more legs than anything else, and it was loitering on the shoulder of the highway, getting ready to saunter across. Then the bear saw my car coming and went, Oops, changed my mind! and swerved away into the brush. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 14 Jul 23 - 07:09 PM The rabbits are out and about, and they are hungry. So hungry that at twilight they will come out and feed with humans only a foot or two away, and provided you stay still, they go right on feeding. There was a barely-bigger-than-baby rabbit today feasting on dandelion leaves. He didn't like it when the school bus pulled up at the nearby intersection with its loud screechy brakes. He also didn't like it when I moved my arms. He ran under the steps to the front of the residence. He'll be back. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 07 May 23 - 05:02 AM I understand that fox attacks on cats are very rare. I'm thinking that the average fox wouldn't want his good looks spoiled by cat claws! I also wonder whether there isn't an element of pecking order going on as well. The cat and fox commonly roll up together at teatime, the cat campaigning by pawing at the back door while he waits patiently a few feet away behind. He sees that the cat is allowed in, a much more privileged situation than he's allowed to enjoy, she comes when called and gets patted, etc., unlike him. "He knows his place," sort of thing. Or maybe I'm just talking daft... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 07 May 23 - 02:15 AM Aw Steve, that is so kind of you. I bet Basil likes you very much. In our last house (set in a huge plot of land bordering on fields) we had a similar foxy chap come up to our patio doors and peer in. Like you, I gave him some cat food, and he got quite accustomed to our presence. He never attacked our five (!!) cats. He was a very bright orange colour, extremely handsome. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 06 May 23 - 05:11 PM The fox I mentioned ten months ago visits every day without fail. I can't say that he and our cat are best buddies but there's no stress between them and they largely ignore each other. He gets a daily snack of small dog food, not too much. He's very polite and waits patiently, head cocked slightly, until I produce the goods. It's all very charming. He won't come closer to me than about three yards, which I like. I prefer him to be a wild animal. Occasionally he turns up when I'm doing the gardening and he just finds a cosy spot in the grass close by to watch me from. He's in great condition and I find the whole situation to be a delight. He's called Basil, by the way, as in Brush. However, he'll forever be Baz to us... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 06 May 23 - 10:50 AM I ran over an opossum the other night. I was driving home from chorus rehearsal. And the stupid opossum sauntered out into the road, right in front of my auto, and stood there staring. It was not possible to swerve on this occasion. So I contributed to the local roadkill. I don't feel good about it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 26 Mar 23 - 10:56 AM Mr and Mrs Quackie, the two mallard ducks, waddled across the road this morning to visit me. And while I was walking back from the Village Hall coffee morning on Wednesday, the two Mad Swans were on the pavement, eating some grass growing by the wayside. I walked very close to them, and they seemed happy to see me! Plus, a pig and some sheep have got out of Mr Barrett's field. They're roaming around the village now. We all wish Mr Barrett would mend his fences. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 08 Mar 23 - 01:37 AM Oh Steve, in our last house we often had pipistrelle bats tangled up in the net curtains! Luckily, I'm not afraid of bats (only spiders). The chap who owns the house where the seagull was trapped on the roof sent me an update this morning. Apparently, the bird was ringed, and the ring had got caught on a prong of the TV aerial. The RSPCA had to amputate its badly-injured leg, but said that many seagulls can manage on one leg. I think ringing them is a bit dodgy if it causes these mishaps. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 07 Mar 23 - 07:20 PM And don't talk to me about having a bat in your bedroom... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 07 Mar 23 - 01:36 PM We once found an oiled cormorant on the beach. We were standing there wondering what to do when a woman handed me a large beach towel, asked me to carry the bird to the top of the beach (about a mile away!) and disappeared - she wanted the bird helped but was too scared to handle it herself! Anyway, I managed to wrap the bird (after several attempts) with just its head sticking out and gripped the rest of its wrapped body very tightly. But what a head. It writhed and wriggled and gradually freed more and more neck until it was able to attempt some vicious whiplashing in the direction of my face. And I dunno whether you've noticed, but cormorants have a very nasty downturned hook on the end of their beak... That was a tough half-hour! I got it to the top and the lifesaving club found me a strong cardboard box. We got the beast to the vet in town and, as far as I know, it got cleaned up and lived happily ever after... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 07 Mar 23 - 12:58 PM Today we were worried about a large seagull that was trapped on the TV aerial of the house behind our back garden. It was desperately struggling to free itself. But as we anxiously watched, the Fire Brigade arrived, and two men put up two ladders, crawled onto the house roof and managed to gently free the creature. They handed it to an RSPCA chap, who wrapped it in a blanket and took it away in his van. Wasn't that wonderful that people were prepared to go out of their way to help it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 16 Feb 23 - 06:17 PM The other day, outside the window, a large bird settled into a distant tree. Don't know what it was, but it was bigger than the crows -- and the crows went ape-shit, circling in the air and shrieking, and flying away from that particular tree. Wish I knew what the bird was. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 12 Feb 23 - 08:54 PM We've been visited every early evening for at least eight or nine months by a beautiful dog fox. We've seen him grow in that time from a scrawny cub to a big fellow with a lovely coat. All right, confession time, I've been encouraging him every evening with either a small stack of peanuts or a handful of doggie-pellets. He and our cat come campaigning every evening for food together, and to my delight they ignore each other, even though they could be just a couple of feet apart at the back door. He'll come within a couple of feet of me, and I talk to him and he knows me, but that's close enough for me. He's a wild animal and I want him to stay that way. I'm glad that his doggie snack gives him a few vitamins and minerals, but he has to go and get the bulk of his diet all by himself. Ever since he appeared on the scene we haven't seen a single one of those hateful grey squirrels or a mole, and the pesky rabbits and wood pigeons have been much thinner on the ground. That'll do me! What joy! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: keberoxu Date: 30 Oct 22 - 03:43 PM A television report said last night that Boston, Massachusetts is one of the most rat-infested cities in the nation. Is it because it is an ocean port? Don't rats favor watery port places? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 18 Aug 22 - 03:20 AM Yesterday I saw three hummingbird hawk moths hovering around my white Valerian flowers. (The only plants not dried-up-and-dead in my garden) Very interesting insects. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 16 Aug 22 - 12:35 PM Haaaghaaaghaaagh Steve! If I found a spider in my knickers as I was putting them on, I'd run outside in the nuddy screaming for help! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 16 Aug 22 - 11:46 AM Talking about pulling up pants, I was putting on my boxer shorts after my shower this morning (down, girls...) when a vast arachnid fell out of them and scuttled away across the bedroom floor. The moral? Give 'em a good shake before inserting the legs... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 14 Aug 22 - 10:24 AM You're right again there Steve. I'm trying hard to see any size of spider as a living creature with the right to be around. I must pull up my 'big girl's pants', grab the nice soft 'tickling stick' duster (it has a long handle) to encourage the spider gently to get on board so I can pop it out of an open window. Spiders don't kill humans (only tropical ones,many of which I've seen in West Africa). I've already posted on Mudcat about the new business that's opened in Nowhere Lane near our village, where one can hold a massive spider, or watch one in an enclosure. Many different insects and arachnids are on show, and one pays a bit extra to enter the 'Holding Room'. I really don't agree with killing anything living now, especially not because of a stupid phobia. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 14 Aug 22 - 07:04 AM You may help to lessen your aversion to spiders if you get up close and personal to the ones outside. Orb web spiders are quite beautiful close up and they're not going to get you, and I like looking at those little khaki garden spiders that dash around on the soil in me veg plot. I think that part of the issue with indoor spiders is the shock of suddenly seeing one in the sink or bath, or scurrying across the carpet. Several UK spiders can nip you, but never badly, and I rationalised away my fear of spiders by telling myself that the fact I'll be eaten alive by horse flies every time I go outside in summer doesn't stop me from venturing out! I've just ordered a pamphlet guide to UK house and garden spiders for £3.30 from Amazon (amusingly, written by a bloke called Lawrence Bee). I'll let you know! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 14 Aug 22 - 02:39 AM Oh Steve, that sounds absolutely idyllic! And very similar to our last house, with an acre of garden beside farmer's fields, with only a shallow ditch separating it. I too used to let wild weeds/plants thrive in one corner to encourage bees etc. And despite the molehills (which my ride-on mower flattened back down) we loved it all. We had fallow deer crossing the ditch and stretching up to eat the blossom from the fruit trees (it used to be an orchard apparently) and foxes, badgers, bats, all sorts of delightful creatures arrived often. You're quite right, nature sorts itself out, and leaving it in peace keeps a balance in a garden. However, I sold the property eventually and we bought this little bungalow in a nice village. I feel less isolated, and village life is very pleasant. There are muntjac deer around, a lovely red kite soaring in the sky and the local beekeeper sometimes has swarms which clump in people's gardens and he collects them up with a skep and a smoker. I do like 'varmints', living things fascinate me. I just wish I could conquer this arachnophobia. and now that my husband lives elsewhere, I must cope with the brutes by myself. Gulp! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 13 Aug 22 - 07:17 PM I'm the same. A couple of years ago we had a wasps' nest right over our front door porch and every arrival or departure was a running of the gauntlet. We had no option but to call in the local pest man. He got rid of our wasps, after two goes, and told us how much he hated killing things and was going to retire. He gave me four mole traps. I have a half-acre garden in the middle of "unsympathetic farm-land." When we moved here 35 years ago it was just an open field. There were two beech trees, a couple of poplars (which we rapidly had removed) and a large apple tree. The beeches and apple are still there, but I've created a very diverse haven for both people and varmints. There are flowery areas near the house and around our two sitting-out places, my big veg plot with two greenhouses, hedges and shelter belts (mainly native elm) all around and several wild areas around the outside left to brambles and nettles, the latter around the edges and judiciously hidden from view. I've made a mini-orchard area around the original apple trees. Other than trying to control slugs, and fighting black spot on my roses, I rarely need to resort to pesticides. That was not the case when we started out. I've concluded that as wide a diversity as you can manage, preferably embracing native species, will mean that you can garden without pesticides and attract all your local wildlife. And why not! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Senoufou Date: 13 Aug 22 - 12:41 PM We had an actual swarm of wasps a few doors down the street. I often get wasps in the house, but I can't bring myself to kill them - I just gently wrap a thick tea towel round one as it buzzes on the net curtain, and pop it outside. Same with bluebottle flies - I rather like them and carefully help them to freedom. My neighbour has a horrible fly-swatter, and thwacks any flying creature with it. Her walls are simply covered in the remains of squashed flies and wasps. But spiders ... er ...EEEEEEEK!!!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Varmints From: Steve Shaw Date: 13 Aug 22 - 05:23 AM I have a birdbath on a stand about three feet off the ground but I've started to put out a large plant pot saucer of water on the ground too (it's about a foot across!) There's not a blade of grass on my front lawn. Luckily, my spud crop was done and dusted (but not yet dug up - safer where it is!)) before the worst of the heat struck, and my large broad bean harvest is safely in the freezer. Except for Pelargoniums, which love dry heat, all the flowers are doing badly. Best just to keep tidying up, which includes mowing down those irritating stalky bits on the lawn. No wasps here! |
