Cross Roads

[Andy Greene]

I was working up on a line today and my little buddy here decided he wanted by me- I learned back in my harness and he went right on by - damn tree rats :wink:
25 years ago , I woulda shook the line to test his skills out- but I just dont have that in me anymore

 

[muddymooose]

Cute. Glad you let him be on his way.

Reminds me of how I let bees and wasps crawl around on me with indifference. I spent a couple semesters studying them in college and still see them as mostly harmless.

 

[Steven]

Cute. Glad you let him be on his way.

Reminds me of how I let bees and wasps crawl around on me with indifference. I spent a couple semesters studying them in college and still see them as mostly harmless.

I would have to agree with you. I've been doing the same thing with them myself for a few decades at least. It's the swatting at them crowd that ticks them off.

 

[muddymooose]

I would have to agree with you. I've been doing the same thing with them myself for a few decades at least. It's the swatting at them crowd that ticks them off.

My wife, coworkers, friends, and most other people swat at them and freak out and I try to convince them the insects present no threat, but it's an uphill battle. I've let paper wasps, mud daubers, honey bees, carpenter bees, etc. land on my hand and crawl around just to show how harmless they are. That has also allowed me to get great macro photos. I haven't been stung by one since I was a kid.

While doing research I sat in the middle of mating swarms of cicada killer wasps (big scary-looking things), opened beehives without a suit, and in general let bees and wasps hang around without going nuts. It's hard to convince people that hymenopterans don't want to attack them unless they feel their life is in danger.

 

[Steven]

I used to eat KFC at work many years ago and the wasps just loved that stuff. Yes, I ate outside of course. If one came into the house, they would eventually make a beeline towards the windows. I could get them on my hand after some maneuvering and let the buggers out. We used to have those damn cicadas in Phoenix. They liked those Palo Verde trees and were easy to catch. Black Widows were also prolific in Phoenix and I'd catch them and put them in a pickle jar with dirt, leaves and twigs. Of course I'd punch holes in the metal lid for air.
It became spooky trying to feed the spiders as they had the tendency to hang upside down on the bottom side of the lid. Not much space between you and a poisonous spider on a pickle jar lid. You had to be VERY careful and not scare the spider into running on your hand.

 

[muddymooose]

Spiders can still raise my BP, if only because I haven't spent much time with them. I've become accustomed to Salticids (jumping spiders) and Thomisids (flower spiders) because they're kind of cute (although quick!) as well as harvestmen and daddy-long-legs (only because I now know their fangs are too short to penetrate skin.) Giant wolf-spider-like things and tarantulas can still make me jump out of habit though. I'd like to work past that because I know there are only a few species of North American arachnids that are potentially harmful.