Sunday, September 8, 2013

Creepy Crawlies and Other Critters

Ever since I moved to the country, my life has been full of encounters with all sorts of critters--some good and some not so good. I had no idea that where I was moving was a spider haven. I find a spider in my house almost every day.

The first one I found was a black widow. I have never in my 24 years seen a black widow indoors. To find it in my living room in plain sight multiplied the horror by ten.


I had placed a box near my front door with a bunch of things I was going to take to Goodwill and apparently the black widow thought it was a good place to take up residence. I have since sprayed my entire exterior for spiders, which has been greatly helping decrease the amount coming inside. Even so, I still had one plop down into the dishwater as I was washing dishes yesterday (thankfully not a black widow). *shudder*

Next in line on my encounters list were the green caterpillars that suddenly attacked my tomatoes. I'd been noticing that the tomatoes were going down hill and couldn't figure it out, until I took a closer look...


Not being aware or on the lookout for these guys, I'd probably let them attack my plants for a few days. They blend in well until you look closely. And the squirt a nasty yellowish liquid at you when you try to pluck them off.

And lastly, the only "good" critter on my list, is the kitten I adopted two weeks ago. I've named her Nora. She keeps me company and makes my house feel more like a cozy home.





4 comments:

  1. Ah that photo of the spider gave me shudders! Hopefully Nora will become an excellent spider hunter as she gets older. Can you train cats to do that? That said, Nora is adorable!

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    1. I've been trying to train her to catch moths with little success, but I think in time she'll become a better hunter. :)

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  2. We have the same spider problem. They never go away!!!! Luckily we don't have a problem with the black widows INSIDE. I come across them everywhere, and end up sticking my hand into thinks all the time only to find out that there was a black widow in there. I have never been bit by one. Now the brown recluses are another story. They hide in everything, and I think every member of my family has been bit by them, except my Dad. They are evil!
    Tomato hornworms are the yuckiest, grossest worms to have to pick off of anything really. And I grew up playing with all sorts of bugs: worms, caterpillars, and rollypollies. At least the chickens love to eat them.

    Nora is a really cute little fur ball.

    Kimberly

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    1. Ooohhh, I'm glad to hear the chickens like to eat them. I'm adding chickens to my backyard soon. I'm just looking into designs for coops and will hopefully get to build one in the next two months or so.

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