Bugs I've brought in the house on my firewood...

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The big cicada killers that fly around real low in the yard are also pretty docile.
They are very agressive to the poor cicada though. Everybodys gotta eat!
Last summer I was working in the garden when a cicada-killer with cicada in it's "claws" hit he smack on the face hard enough to leave a mark. It then proceeded to drag that cicada along the grass until it was dead. Fascinating.

TE
 
something a little different from my wood pile here in Australia.

bug 2.jpgBug.jpgCAM00101.jpg
 
something a little different from my wood pile here in Australia.

Auzzie - we have Luna moths here, the caterpillars are similar to the one's in your pic, but in neon green (3" to 4" long). The Luna moths are really cool. Sorry for my crappy photo but it's all I have - this one is hanging out on the door.
 

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I heard they go well with Vegemite!
 
Auzzie - we have Luna moths here, the caterpillars are similar to the one's in your pic, but in neon green (3" to 4" long). The Luna moths are really cool. Sorry for my crappy photo but it's all I have - this one is hanging out on the door.
yes- lunar and Io and Crecropia and prometheus - all the big silk moths. Aren't late Spring/summer nights great? Moths and tree frogs all over the windows and screens...
 
yes- lunar and Io and Crecropia and prometheus - all the big silk moths. Aren't late Spring/summer nights great? Moths and tree frogs all over the windows and screens...

Yeah - like an invasion sometimes. One poor Luna moth like the one on the door became an appetizer for the dog when she was a pup. She only picked a frog up once, and promptly spit it out - I think it peed or something, not sure if they excrete something nasty otherwise - but lesson learned - she won't grab them now but they still keep her entertained.
 
Yeah - like an invasion sometimes. One poor Luna moth like the one on the door became an appetizer for the dog when she was a pup. She only picked a frog up once, and promptly spit it out - I think it peed or something, not sure if they excrete something nasty otherwise - but lesson learned - she won't grab them now but they still keep her entertained.
Maybe it was a Pickerel frog...they exude something that keeps the dogs well away. Or maybe it just peed.
 
Been burning wood since about 2007. I had boxelder bugs for the first time this year. Also had a hornet for the first time this year.

Other than that, just the occassional small spider. Thankfully I have not gotten the huge Huntsman wood spiders that my dad always used to get when I was a kid. I did kill two on the porch a couple years ago but thankfully have not gotten into the house.
 
A bit closer to the original topic (things in the wood pile) - I seem to have a bigger than usual collection of mouse nests in the stacks this year - digging thru and cherry picking some pieces last weekend, and it seems like they really moved in. Maybe the milder weather is kicking up their population? Those splits (next to a nest) either go inside and right into the hot stove, or get shuffled to another spot. I like to keep some wood by the stove to dry off a bit when I bring it in, but nothing with the mouse crap on it.
 
Been burning wood since about 2007. I had boxelder bugs for the first time this year. Also had a hornet for the first time this year.
I dunno if the change in weather / warmer trends in many areas is responsible for what seems to be an upsurge in bugs / species / varieties / etc.? Going to have to be extra careful now, I think.
 
Maybe it was a Pickerel frog...they exude something that keeps the dogs well away. Or maybe it just peed.

I'll have to take a closer look this spring, next time I see them - they show up in the dark most of the time to drive the pup crazy, but I haven't paid too much attention to the exact detail - now I'm curious though...
 
Half asleep this morning, I went out in the 'wintry mix' we were having on Long Island to get a load for the morning. While loading up the stove I see this mouse out of the corner of my eye. Freaked out until I realized it was the dogs chew toy.
 
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I have a mystery bug that has infested my piles over the last few years. I can't identify it but they like to live in cracks and under bark. They are insects, coarse white and black diamondy pattern, don't fly, but crawl around in the house up on the walls, about double the size of a smallish grain of rice and 3/8" long. Antennaes, look sort of like a miniature cockroach. Stand up on their legs with body off the ground.

Any ideas?

Look like this? This is a Cave cricket, like dark places..

Cave-Cricket1.jpg
 
Color is right but it is more of a cockroach or skinny beetle. No big legs, or other big features. Pretty boring looking except for the color. I always smash them as they run from the wood debris on my hearth. Once smashed, they just aren't that easy to identify. Pretty small, like 3/8 inch long.
 
Wish it weren't so, but believe me it was. Touch and go for -over 48 hours. I was almost at the hospital over it. Have the photos to prove it. Necrosis around the bite, very significant involvement of a major portion of the foot, intense pain. No fun. Very scary situation, and absolutely classic progression of the bite. Forotunately, after 48 hours it stopped getting worse. That's the point at which an attempt at medical management is undertaken, if the bite continues to worsen...and care is required quickly at that point. And brown recluse are around here, and also around NYC. Not common,ut they exist. Documented bites. Just be careful around woodpiles.


Glad to hear it wasn't any worse - Wife's great-uncle also got a recluse bite in Ontario - the tissue damage can be unbelievable.

Edit: Oh, and no bugs brought inside to report.
 
Color is right but it is more of a cockroach or skinny beetle. No big legs, or other big features. Pretty boring looking except for the color. I always smash them as they run from the wood debris on my hearth. Once smashed, they just aren't that easy to identify. Pretty small, like 3/8 inch long.

Folks,

Here is the best I could do for a picture. As you can see, I can have half a dozen of these on a single split. What are they?
 

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Black Widows. Hundreds of them. I've probably been bitten many times without knowing it over the years with nothing more than a local welt.
 
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