Wood Piles and the Critter Factor

[soupy1957]

I dunno if it's the wood in my yard and garage, or if it's just "the year of the spider," but it seems lately that the SIZE of the spiders I'm finding, hanging around (literally) my garage and back deck these days, are much LARGER and more venomous looking, than I've seen in YEARS!

Not sure if it is because of all the wood around or not, but began to wonder what types of infestations or critter clans are typically found around the wood pile.

Over your years of vast experience having large quantities of wood around, .........what have YOU found lurking in and around YOUR wood pile? Any horror stories of what you accidentally allowed to come in the house with your wood?

I guess I've heard that "spiders" are a consideration, ("why" them specifically, I'm not really sure), but I'm thinking that I might want to wear gloves when toting my wood, from now on.

The spiders (although I'm wondering about snakes, rodents, etc., as well), I killed yesterday (not directly ON the wood pile, but nearby), caused me to take pause. These suckers where HUGE!! I actually thought they might be big enough to fight BACK!!

-Soupy1957

 

[KB007]

We have these things called wolf spiders here (I think that's what they're called) and they look huge - about 4" accross if you were to stretch the legs out all the way. They look scary and I just flick 'em off.

I musta found about 20 mouse nests in the pile between splitting and stacking, plus about 4 different snakes, lotsa slugs, snails and other bugs. Also found a couple of snake skins that were shed - they're kinda cool looking.

 

[raiderfan]

I've noticed some HUGE spiders around my garage as well!! I don't have wood in the garage, but a wood stack out in my yard.

The thing that always concerns me more than spiders and such, are mice. I never noticed any mouse action in my house, (I knew i must have had them, as its an old house, just never noticed them in my living quarters), until last year. Was wondering if my wood stack (about 10ft) from my house was the cause of this. I only have a little over a cord of wood stacked (just a weekend burner) and its along my fence line between my neighbors house and mine. My neighbor has like 6 cats, too, so never thought that would be an issue. But last year was the first that i noticed some made it to my kitchen

So I went around the foundation and patched up any holes with mortar this summer and spray foamed any gaps i noticed between the sill and foundation, so I hope that helps, as the wood stack won't be moved (this year anyways).

 

[Bobbin]

Lots of spiders here, too. Yeah, they give me the creeps, but they're good at what they do... hunting other insects and keeping their part of the world in good balance. I get the willies when one run overs my hand or drops down in front of my face, but I "suck it up" and remind myself to "live and let live". Lots of mice, too... but the resident pride keeps them well in check. To that end, we make sure the birdseed, grass seed, etc. is stored in containers with tight lids. I am pretty brutal about nests, though... putting them "out in the open" and allowing the cats to have their way with the "pinkies". We also leave spaces between stacks of wood that are wide enough for the cats... if they can get in there with relative ease the mice are at more of a disadvantage. I frequently find toads under the stacks, too... I like toads. And there are snakes, but I'm pretty much OK with them, too. Even if I occasionally let out a shriek and jump away, lol.

 

[PapaDave]

The spiders must have thought I built 'em a condo this year, with the new wood shed. They have taken up residence and seem to be letting all their relatives know about this new place to live.
There are a few quite large webs strung from split to split, with the "tunnel" going back in between splits. Look like the "wolf" spider webs, but I'm not sure.
I found this bugger in the stacks last year while moving wood, ......glad I was wearing gloves.
Found a few garter snake skins too.

 

[Bobbin]

I've never worried about venom, but I do tend to wear gloves when I'm working with firewood. Not because I'm overly concerned with my manicure (rather, lack thereof) but because I'm basically a squid about spiders and centipedes. They just have way too many legs.

 

[Slow1]

I started noticing more mice as well... then this spring we've had a lot more cats hanging around the house. Perhaps that is a good thing

As to bugs - spiders etc don't bother me too much (the girls don't like them but oh well) - at least as far as I know we don't have a lot of really dangerous ones around here so they are just annoying. Ants are what I worry about - carpenter ants are what I have fought since years before burning. I have not noticed a change in the ant situation in the house though so that is good.

 

[Bugboy]

Stuff in the wood pile doesn't bother me,,,, but I did have to get the doctor to remove a spider that was living in my ear for a day and a half. She flushed it out. You can't believe how loud a little spider is when it is moving around next to your eardrum.

 

[RNLA]

We found a possum under the pallets, he was pissed to be disturbed in his slumber. The other things we have found were really tiny bird nests, rats or mice nests, and the affore mentioned SPIDERS !!

 

[Bobbin]

OK, I'll "bite"... how did the spider get to set up residence in your ear, Bugboy? Enquiring minds want to know... (have you contacted the "gross channel"? i.e. Discovery, they'd love that sort of story).

 

[burleymike]

We always have garter snakes, we are close to the river and they like the water. Last year we had one black widow near a basement window that got smashed. The only other spiders I see around here are the hobo spiders.

For the first few years I had to deal with snakes and mice in the house. The previous owners did some poor renovations on the house and left several gaps where they all came in and made nests in the block walls of the basement. Nothing like breaking a hole in a concrete block wall only to find a bunch of coiled up snakes.

 

[soupy1957]

Stuff in the wood pile doesn't bother me,,,, but I did have to get the doctor to remove a spider that was living in my ear for a day and a half. She flushed it out. You can't believe how loud a little spider is when it is moving around next to your eardrum.

Now THAT'S just plain freakin me out!!

-Soupy1957

 

[Dix]

Stuff in the wood pile doesn't bother me,,,, but I did have to get the doctor to remove a spider that was living in my ear for a day and a half. She flushed it out. You can't believe how loud a little spider is when it is moving around next to your eardrum.

Now THAT'S just plain freakin me out!!

-Soupy1957

That'll teach you to start a thread like this :lol:

 

[PapaDave]

Yeah, what she said.

 

[Bobbin]

I still want to know about the spider in your ear.

Or were you just bullshitting us??

 

[weatherguy]

Stuff in the wood pile doesn’t bother me,,,, but I did have to get the doctor to remove a spider that was living in my ear for a day and a half. She flushed it out. You can’t believe how loud a little spider is when it is moving around next to your eardrum

Well, thats explains your screen name.
I believe the story because my sister had a bug in her ear that she had to go to the doctor to get it removed. I forget what type of insect, it was a couple of years ago.

 

[billjustbill]

Stuff in the wood pile doesn't bother me,,,, but I did have to get the doctor to remove a spider that was living in my ear for a day and a half. She flushed it out. You can't believe how loud a little spider is when it is moving around next to your eardrum.

Now THAT'S just plain freakin me out!!

-Soupy1957

I have a friend that bought several acres of raw property and he and his wife would pull a little "pop-up" trailer out on it as they built a metal barn during a Spring and early Summer.

One night, one of those "Flipper Bugs" with the hard shell and amazing flipping strength crawled into his ear. They wound up in the Emergency Room because of the noise, popping motion, and its painful forward crawling and its refusal to back out. The ER doc took those bent twizzers, and though some endless painful seconds, the bug came out in bits and pieces. The thin skin lining the ear canal was scraped and raw, plus the ER Doc sent him out the door to see an Ear specialist to be sure there wasn't eardrum problems.

All totaled, that little bug cost the fellow over $3,000 in ER and medical bills.

So, bang together and shake out your firewood before you bring it into the house....because your firewood could cost you $3,000 a cord....

 

[woodsmaster]

I've found lots of mice nests, a chipmunk, and occashionally bring in a ant infested piece of wood.

 

[BrotherBart]

Any time we have a hot dry summer the spider count shoots up.

What is driving me nuts is moths. In the house. Can't get rid of the damn things.

 

[drozenski]

best thing I've found to cut back on the number of nasties in my piles is.

Drill 3 one inch holes in each side of the pallet you put your wood on equally spaced apart. Spray under the pallet with bug kill and weed killer to keep those pests away.

After the wood is piled spray the whole pile lightly with a organic bug killer.

Kept about 50% of the normal ammount of bugs away this summer

 

[soupy1957]

I'll presume the "bug killer" dissipates over time, and you are not burning those chemicals in your stove, Drozenski?!

-Soupy1957

 

[drozenski]

I'll presume the "bug killer" dissipates over time, and you are not burning those chemicals in your stove, Drozenski?!

-Soupy1957

The organic stuff is made from nature. And yes i spray early spring and mid summer. The chemicals are long gone by winter.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I have one wood pile that has quite a few wolf spiders. They are scary looking, but fortuneatly they are not real fast. One year we had some in the basement and I was walking past a silk ficus tree and a wolf spider jumped onto my face. It scared the sh*t out of me. This year our major problem is stink bugs!! Is anyone else having this problem? We thought we were getting them under control and I fired the fireplace up last night and about 30 of them starting coming out of the fireplace. Nasty bugs, they will find their way in just about anywhere.

 

[dafattkidd]

Yeah Soupy,

I'm on Long Island so we have very similar weather situations, and I would assume similar wildlife. I've seen the hugest spiders I've ever seen locally on my wood piles. They freak me out, too. I just hope I don't bring any of those suckers in my house.

 

[soupy1957]

I have what I would call a "healthy respect" of spiders. I WOULDN'T say that I'm a woos about it. If I see em, I try not to bring them in the house, and I attempt to make them go away, one way or the other (if for no other reason than they multiply like mice and the wife HATES them).

The OP was to ask about the range of creatures that I might expect to find, and so far I've read, spiders, mice, snakes, .......

-Soupy1957