Bugs, Creatures, and Long Legged Beasties!

[Sigmund]

Hello. Everybody!

I was reading through some old threads in the Social Groups and was reminded how members have bugs, and creatures that others don't know or experienced.

We have horned toads.

Check it out!




We were used to seeing them and even picked them up and played with them. (We were young and kinda goofy. Ha!)

What kind of creatures do you have in your area that might give us a *heads up* ?

(OOOoooo Palmetto bugs, and charging spiders! Oh, my!)

Thank you!

Peace.

[PatInTheHat]

Way easy to bag 'em, I mean they're the only feathered critter I can think of off the top o' my punkin' head that has it's very own bucket list.

[fljoe0]

My dad was doing his daily walking in a park yesterday and ran into this.

Attachment 16752

He was on a trail a few feet above this guy so he wasn't as close as the picture looks.

[atomicinchworm]

We have brown recluse spiders. :| And most people can't identify them. Of course, most people that got bitten by one wouldn't know it. Only 15% of the bites ever go some sort of necrotic, and it is a very rare thing to go catastrophically necrotic.

We also have mink.
http://mdc.mo.gov/media/image/mink-0?popup

And opossum. They are really cute, in my opinion, and don't carry rabies, unlike raccoons.


Missouri is also home to a lot of pretty little native fishes, including some darters, catfish, and this little guy is a male Northern Stud Fish, which is Missouri's largest topminnow.

[exzel]

I live near ground zero of the slow moving, fearless, intensely annoying and destructive Stinkbug invasion (transplant from Asia) here in the US. And you have to deal with them 12 months out of the year as they find their way into houses and appear throughout your home even in the winter months. And yes they do stink!



And with few natural enemies in the US for the Stinkbug, the last couple of years I’ve now seen a large infestation of a rather large insect that is also slow moving, fearless and feeds on the Stinkbug... The Wheel Bug (a variety of Assassin Bug). But unlike the Stinkbug, the Wheel Bug has a very painful bite that is worse than the sting from bees. And they also stink.

[Dana Jean]

Charging spiders? Oh man! I'd love to see my son run into one of those. I have never in my life seen someone so afraid of a creepy crawly as my 19 year old son is of spiders. If he had one charging him....oh hell, that would be so funny!
(Yes, I am a mean momma.)

[Lily Sawyer]

I apparently moved from the L.A. Zoo to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere.

There are chipmunks (SO cute!), squirrels, possums, raccoons, fox, coyotes (and here I thought I'd escaped them - not), rabbits (they're redheads! adorable!), and the birds that are always at the feeder:
cardinals
robins
doves
North Carolina chickadees
black-capped chickadees
yellow finches
juncos
acorn woodpeckers
house finches

Attachment 16753

[smooth operator]

I have no fear of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, or fish, but keep bugs away from me!! I am not bothered by some bugs - lady bugs, honey bees, bumblebees, dragonflies, or butterflies - but the rest freak me out. It probably results from some damage incurred as a child at the hands of a babysitter from hell. Whatever the case, I steer clear of them and they would be wise to do the same for me.

[GNTLGNT]

We have brown recluse spiders. :| And most people can't identify them. Of course, most people that got bitten by one wouldn't know it. Only 15% of the bites ever go some sort of necrotic, and it is a very rare thing to go catastrophically necrotic.

We also have mink.
http://mdc.mo.gov/media/image/mink-0?popup

And opossum. They are really cute, in my opinion, and don't carry rabies, unlike raccoons.


Missouri is also home to a lot of pretty little native fishes, including some darters, catfish, and this little guy is a male Northern Stud Fish, which is Missouri's largest topminnow.

...that's makin's for a fine possum burrito and "stud fish" was my nickname in High School....

[GNTLGNT]

...these cuddly lil reptiles that smell like cucumbers...