Wild animals that have become your friends.

Walking Man

Walking Man

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I have a special spider living in my garage door between the narrow shelves......
What's so special about him/her? I have no idea, but I normally kill spiders when are in the way (when they aren't I let them live to eat the other bugs which I despise even more). But this one has something about that makes me think he is the bug guardian to our house! Our very own spider watchdog. Okay, it's silly, but I give the little guy a LOT of credit for riding up and down on the garage door everday and not seeming to mind a bit. (at least not as far as I can tell ;) )
I'm sure a few others of you have similar experiences. Care to share?
(added)
I think the little guy is a wolf spider. I'll try to get a better ID soon.
 
I love spiders, never kill em! If I see one in the house I just watch it run across the floor or up the wall or where ever it happens to be. If my folks see one they holler "Michael, there's a spider in here" or for that matter, any kind of bug they notice. If it's one they see I go catch it with my hands and put it outside. If it's a regular bug I catch it and put it outside too even if I'm the one that finds it. Only bugs I kill are skeeters, palmeto bugs-big friggin flyin roach bugs, and flies. If you find a wasp, hornet, bee, or some other bug you don't care to handle in your house, just put a clear plastic cup over it. Then slide an index card under the cup to catch the bug in the cup and take it out side to let it go.
 
Not many bugs around my house....we have Gecko's....the second hatch is taking place and I pound (shaking won't cut it)my boots on the floor every morning ,last two days ...two Gecko's fell out ...released them outside .
Only spider I don't like and will kill is the Brown Recluse...a few of them in the wood pile.
 
I have spiders all over my house. I don't even worry about them. There have been a few that I've killed but 95% of the time I leave them alone. I figure that if they are living then they are eating other bugs I don't want in my house. I figure if they don't have food they die. They are living so if I kill them then other bugs will be around. Spiders are a work of art and they are amazing little creatures.

We also love the squirrels we have around here. We feed them peanuts (unsalted and still in the shell). They hang out on our back porch sometimes when the squirrel feeder is empty. I can walk outside with a bag of peanuts and the buggers practically follow me to the feeder. They are great little guys. I love animals. ;)
 
Walking Man said:
I have a special spider living in my garage door between the narrow shelves......
What's so special about him/her? I have no idea, but I normally kill spiders when are in the way (when they aren't I let them live to eat the other bugs which I despise even more). But this one has something about that makes me think he is the bug guardian to our house! Our very own spider watchdog. Okay, it's silly, but I give the little guy a LOT of credit for riding up and down on the garage door everday and not seeming to mind a bit. (at least not as far as I can tell ;) )
I'm sure a few others of you have similar experiences. Care to share?
(added)
I think the little guy is a wolf spider. I'll try to get a better ID soon.
Click to expand...
I hope it doesn't have a "violin" shaped marking on its back. That'd make it a Brown Recluse, which is the nastiest spider in the States. If it bites you, you'll get a big "bullseye" shaped welt -- then the tissue within the circle gradually rots away. :eek:
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
I hope it doesn't have a "violin" shaped marking on its back. That'd make it a Brown Recluse, which is the nastiest spider in the States. If it bites you, you'll get a big "bullseye" shaped welt -- then the tissue within the circle gradually rots away. :eek:
Click to expand...
I know about them... And I also hope it's not one of them! :eek:
Actually, I don't really think that this part of Ohio is part of their natural habit. I think some of them might wander up this way from time to time, but I don't think it's considered their true home, so I don't think I have too much too worry about.... But I will indeed take a look.
Don't forget.... they are called the recluse for a reason, because they are shy! You normally don't have to worry about a bite if you can see one.
[added]
Here's some good info I just found:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html
And as you can see, this part of Ohio is not part of their habit! But I will still definately be careful.....
Just in case!
Okay, he's definately NOT a brown recluse; he has a few whitish stripes on his legs and a lighter brown stripe on his abdomen. It's hard for me to get a good look at him at though, since he always huddled up, and tucked away behind his web.
 
Ugh , you guys and your spiders....:eek: The only spider I allow to live in my pad is Daddy Long Legs , otherwise they are dead the moment I see them.

I have these two Doves that have taken refuge in my patio , maybe they like all the plants ? They used to fly away whooping when I cam outside but now one of them is getting brave enough to fly back and stand on the edge of one of my pots looking at me , it's kinda neat.:p


Evil Eye Earl , do your Geckos speak with an Australian accent ? :D
 
Every other morning I can hear this crow cavorting on the roof. Turns out it runs around eating yellowjackets and other wood insects, so I leave it alone. The larger animals that hang out around the front yard are deer and wild turkeys; the deer just stare at you and then flee while the turkeys make noises and chase you. I like turkeys :rolleyes:

The only spider I allow to live in my pad is Daddy Long Legs , otherwise they are dead the moment I see them
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I used to think those long-legs were spiders too, but then I found out they're called harvestman and are apparently some form of mite. Regardless they're still neat.
 
At our cabin in the woods, there used to be a horny toad that just loved to hang out next to the driveway. Those things are awesome little monsters.

Also, we did have a rather large population of geckos at one time as well, but they seem to have died off a bit.

Years back, my father glued some glass together to make a small terrarium. He caught some geckos at his work, and put them in there. Eventually, something stupid happened, and they all escaped. This was in the middle of a bit of a cockroach epidemic, which quickly stopped. Realizing what happened, every now and then, he would capture a few more geckos at work, and release them back home.

For a while, there was a small population of them set up on sort of a support pillar type deally next to the front door. They'd sit up there, and look down on you when you'd get home and such. It was amusing to see.
 
I wouldn't call him a friend, but every morning as I'm leaving for work... the same damn squirrel gives me the finger. He's usually on my roof or in one of my maples. If I didn't have close by neighbors, he'd fall victim to my .22 just for his sheer insolence.
 
Walking Man said:
I have a special spider living in my garage door between the narrow shelves......
What's so special about him/her? I have no idea, but I normally kill spiders when are in the way (when they aren't I let them live to eat the other bugs which I despise even more). But this one has something about that makes me think he is the bug guardian to our house! Our very own spider watchdog. Okay, it's silly, but I give the little guy a LOT of credit for riding up and down on the garage door everday and not seeming to mind a bit. (at least not as far as I can tell ;) )
I'm sure a few others of you have similar experiences. Care to share?
(added)
I think the little guy is a wolf spider. I'll try to get a better ID soon.
Click to expand...

Wolf spiders are ground hunters. They chase their prey and pounce on it and have extremely good vision to aid them. They don't generally build webs since that isn't the way they catch their prey and they are not considered to be poisonous. Is your guy in a web or just clinging to the door?
 
the crows at work (before I switched offices). They recognized me and my car. I always had bread for 'em and they'd get within five feet if I was sitting in my car and 10'-15' if I was standing on the grass. Everyone called 'em "Frank's birds".
 
Mongo said:
I wouldn't call him a friend, but every morning as I'm leaving for work... the same damn squirrel gives me the finger. He's usually on my roof or in one of my maples. If I didn't have close by neighbors, he'd fall victim to my .22 just for his sheer insolence.
Click to expand...
rofl !


Maybe it was a cousin to this ?
Samuraisquirrel56456-772155.jpg
 
Andrew Taylor said:
I hope it isn't a Wolf Spider or your little friend packs quite a bite. Ask our forumite Valimas if he likes Wolf Spiders? :)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411101&highlight=wolf+spider
Click to expand...

we are pretty thick with Wolf Spiders around here, but they have never really been a problem, they are pretty non-aggressive.

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/wolfspider.htm

i usually escort spiders outside if they are in a bad spot, but they aren't near as annoying as crickets

as for geckos, they release them in our offices and i see them time to time, i hear they are supposed to control the cricket population
 
yermom said:
we are pretty thick with Wolf Spiders around here, but they have never really been a problem, they are pretty non-aggressive.

http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/wolfspider.htm

i usually escort spiders outside if they are in a bad spot, but they aren't near as annoying as crickets

as for geckos, they release them in our offices and i see them time to time, i hear they are supposed to control the cricket population
Click to expand...

Dude ! ok that is the same spider that was marinating in my bathtub a few sundays ago ! :eek: Man it was so heavy it actually made a "thump" sound as it fell into the tub, after I smacked it like one smacks an angry carp...
Thos things give me the willies ! and I'm not afraid to admit I would ssSCCRrRREEAAM like a little girl if one crawled on me.:D
 
No, it's not a wolf spider. definately not!
He seems to sit on the garage door behind his web, but I think he crawls on his web too.
 
I didn't know wolf spiders were poisonous! Maybe what we call wolf spiders is different. The ones here have white stripes on their legs and jump real good. I catch em with my hands and let em walk around on my hands and arms with no problems. Never been bitten.
I've only seen two scorpions here. Both out in the shop. One I just let be. The other one I decided to entomb in some fiberglass resin. :D Came out lookin like amber cept it had a bunch of lint stuck in it. You could see the scorpion real good though.

Chin, a few years ago there was a squirrel here that would walk right up to you and take peanuts out of your hand. If you didn't offer a peanut right off it would come up and nibble on your toe, lol. Guess it thought they were peanuts.
 
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