The war at home
I don’t know what the hell those hopping insects in my basement are, but they certainly know who I am now. The struggle between man and the creepy-crawly-things-that-invade-his-home took a drastic turn this evening. After an unexpected encounter, a battle ensued with five or six lives lost. Fortunately they were all on the other side. I did not emerge unscathed, however, as I have a full blown case of the heebee-jeebees (not to be mistaken for the far more embarassing jeepers-creepers). Exact numbers are unknown, but there appears to be only one remaining enemy - and he is hiding out in the darkest corner of the basement. Just biding his time…
Actually, it turns out these things are called camel crickets. WTF?!?! Alright, the name cave cricket makes a bit more sense but, regardless, these suckers are nasty (not safe for the faint of heart). They make me long for the days of the enormous spiders I battled with in Montclair - although they are still an upgrade over the creepiest of all crawlies. I’ve told Lisa to steer clear of the battle zone as I’ve left the remains as a warning for all would-be followers. That, and their bodies don’t squish so nice and neat, so clean up is being left ’til morning.
Oh… why oh why did I click? I should have listened to the warning! **shudder**
I had house centipedes at Stevens when I lived in Lore-El. Maintenance gave me glue traps. It was SO gross!
Freshman year at Stevens was the first time I saw one of those house centipedes. Sadly, it was not the last…
At least you don’t have Camel Spiders in your basement :)
Curt and I just found out we have black widows setting up to start a new colony on our front porch. As Carlos once said - there are no centipedes in Alabama because they’re too damn scared of the other insects down here!!!
Curt and I just found out that black widows have set up housekeeping on our front porch. As Carlos once said - there are no centipedes in Alabama because too damn scared of what else is there.
@ Malina - I still remember a night back in Hoboken when Lisa caught a glimpse of one of those house centipedes just as we were falling asleep - I spent the next hour (at around 1 AM) vacuuming my entire room until she was satisfied it was gone.
The discussion page on the Wikipedia entry for them is hysterical - it’s pretty much just a bunch of people talking about how creepy they are. Except for one guy who caught one as a pet…
@ Mark - As soon as I found out they were called camel centipedes, all I could think of was those camel spiders.
@ Kathleen - Everytime I encounter some freaky bug up here, all I can think of is that at least I’m not down there. You’d think the South was covered in rain forests or something with the number of creepy bugs you guys deal with - I can’t believe you can live in that environment with your phobia. And now black widows! At the very least, unlike these suckers I’m sure they don’t jump 2 feet in the air!
Oh, yeah, the house centipedes are the creepiest. Regarding the crickets, I knew someone (with whom I used to live) who liked to vacuum them up in a dustbuster and leave them to jump themselves to death in there. I soon divorced him.
I just remembered the worst bug ever….in New Mexico, the “Vinegaroon” is what they called it, and if I knew how to do the nifty link I could do that here. Anyway, we had one in our hotel room and you should have seen my big tough husband try to kill it with a shoe, right after getting out of the shower. I wish I had a camera with me. After you smoosh it, it reeks of vinegar. We didn’t sleep all that well that night, mainly because I was laughing too loudly.