wasps

[Carys]

Just be glad you don't live in Australia like me..

I was literally just sat here thinking that; we live in a part of the world where there literally is nothing that threatens us unlike places like Australia, and still we are fearful. Maybe it is BECAUSE we aren't desensitised by having venemous creatures around us? I've told this story before...but last summer on a sandy path, on a walk, some people coming towards me stopped, looked at 'something' a few inches away, stepped straight over it and carried on chatting. As I reached them I asked them was it was...and in an Australian accent one said 'Oh, just a little snake'! I did laugh, it was an adder, and I think most of us wouldn't have just stepped over it and carried on calmly.

Blueiris, Oh yeah, of course, it was on your back ! LOL I was just wondering, as people say you can see the two tiny fang holes. Well, it sounds jolly painful and at least it hasn't turned you into a spider-hater

[MyNameIsTerry]

And not to mention spiders...found my dog trying to eat a massive huntsman spider this morning. He managed to take off one of it's legs...

If I was over there I would be wearing body armour all day and night! I remember when Karina said she came back in her house to find a King Brown in her bedroom and she had to chase it out.

My dad was a gardener for most of his life but doing it in your country is like being part animal wrangler

You've got most of the most deadly over there but forget the taipans, salties, box jellyfish and sharks...it's the camels you have to watch out for!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I was literally just sat here thinking that; we live in a part of the world where there literally is nothing that threatens us unlike places like Australia, and still we are fearful.

We have angry seagulls after our chips

[MyNameIsTerry]

....to do it outside instead?

I have a shark pit outside like any other self respecting super villain

I was once sitting reading outside and saw a bee fall down the side of our waterfall into the pond. It lasted less than a second before a big mouth came up and gobbled him up. Our koi and goldfish will eat anything! The goldfish look permanently pregnant!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I did see that MAHOOSIVE bee, it was flippin awesome. I hope its not the only one though, the way they were talking it sounded like it was !

I saw photos of the bee - it was brilliant, wasn't it?

I didn't realise there'd been false widow threads on here before, I should have looked but the bite happened a couple of months before I joined. I was mightily panicked about it at the time, but once I realised it was just a bite of some sort I calmed down quickly enough. I just hope I didn't accidentally squash the poor thing!

Yes, it was an amazing creature. There must be more of them as they hadn't been seen for 2 decades unless they live a very long time!

On the same day there was an article about a giant tortoise they thought has been extinct for 100 years too in the Galapagos Islands.

I have people talk about false widows on threads about bites so you should be able to find some with the advanced search. Most likely on the HA board.

I don't mind spiders, Carys. They are great for the house. We get quite large ones that emerge from our fireplace and make a sprint for it under the chairs. I call them Turbo Spiders, they are very fast.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I did see that MAHOOSIVE bee, it was flippin awesome. I hope its not the only one though, the way they were talking it sounded like it was !

I am cross with you Terry, please re-read my 'wasps are friends' post above, AGAIN. I've been stung, errrr, 5 times now by wasps and all in the last decade oddly, they must sense I am slowing down lol



No, I know you aren't about to go murdering them....apologies if it came across as me 'pulling you up'. The false widow has come up on NMP a few times before based on Daily Fail-type hysterics, and it upsets me to think how loathed they are. Well, they aren't totally harmless lets be honest, they do bite if leaned on and it hurts lol Effective defenses. I just can't bear people saying they kill spiders, it makes me really really sad, when they are so cute. I had one of those house spiders make a web on a kitchen plant last year, and it ran out of flies so I was throwing any dead flies I found on its web, it was so interesting watching it react and wrap them up. Everyday can be a 'safari' if you let it be......

Look, liking them only goes so far, I don't want them crawling on me ! I don't have a weekly 'hug a wasp' day or anything, and hornets do freak me a bit. However, when I had a hornet issue last summer...even then I didn't exterminate them.

I got stung by a hornet once, little buggers!

Spiders are amazing. How on earth do they string a web half way across your back yard from high up?!!!

I wonder if you are creating lazy spiders by hand feeding them?

Next time I see a wasp in my house I will think of your advice, Carys. Even when it's got a big grin on it's face as it's having so much fun stinging a stupid human trying to pet it I shall repeat the friendly wasp mantra

[Carys]

Next time I see a wasp in my house I will think of your advice, Carys. Even when it's got a big grin on it's face as it's having so much fun stinging a stupid human trying to pet it I shall repeat the friendly wasp mantra

Well done! First step, before the mantra, is to lose the Anthropomorphism

The OP is going to have a nice surprise when they return, to see all these posts!

[Carys]

For anyone even slightly interested about understanding wasps, as sometimes a better understanding of things can reduce fear, here is a short national geographic article which also describes the importance of the wasp to the ecosystem. Warning, there are large wasp images !

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/a...s/group/wasps/

[Dimdim101]

I was literally just sat here thinking that; we live in a part of the world where there literally is nothing that threatens us unlike places like Australia, and still we are fearful. Maybe it is BECAUSE we aren't desensitised by having venemous creatures around us? I've told this story before...but last summer on a sandy path, on a walk, some people coming towards me stopped, looked at 'something' a few inches away, stepped straight over it and carried on chatting. As I reached them I asked them was it was...and in an Australian accent one said 'Oh, just a little snake'! I did laugh, it was an adder, and I think most of us wouldn't have just stepped over it and carried on calmly.

Blueiris, Oh yeah, of course, it was on your back ! LOL I was just wondering, as people say you can see the two tiny fang holes. Well, it sounds jolly painful and at least it hasn't turned you into a spider-hater

I definitely think perceptions of Aus wildlife is overhyped! Everyone is afraid to come here for fear of giant spiders and snakes in their living rooms. Those situations aren't common at all unless you're in the outback, but I feel like in any rural areas in any country you're bound to find unusual creatures. I've been on holidays to bushland type areas plenty of times and have never come across a live snake/redback spider/funnel web spider (the most deadly) - the worst that happened to me was finding a dead red belly black snake on the road near my house, goats walking on a nearby street in the middle of the night, and suffering a tick bite (but I live near a wildlife park and national park, so even that's not so bad!)

[Fishmanpa]

It's interesting this thread popped up. I 'had' a phobia about stinging insects (bees, wasps, hornets etc.). When I was 8yo, I was at a Summer camp. Walking back from dinner, I stepped in a hornets nest. Next thing I know I'm being stung multiple times. All I remember is screaming my head off and a counselor picking me up and running me to the nurses office. For years after that into my adulthood, I'd be like a screaming weanie running, flailing,ducking ~lol~

I've been stung a few times since then and yeah it hurts but I found a way to deal with it. Don't get me wrong, I still don't want them landing on me or anything but I can watch them, they can fly around me etc.

My wife however is a total case when it comes to spiders. Even seeing a photo sends her into a shivering blob

Positive thoughts