Spiders

[breezygirl]

WOW Iggy!!!! I can say honestly I probably wouldnt have shot at a rat but hey thats just me...rats dont bug me too much till they get into my food supply then they are dead rodents walking. I do have a pretty serious issue with squirrels though. They carry fleas and plague and leptospirosis. Snce I am in the dog business thats not such a wonderful thing so I target male squirrels and pop them with a bb gun anytime I can. I leave the females because I cant stand the thought of a litter of pups starving to death in a nest somewhere........yes I know I am weird:rolleyes:

[siouxz72]

lol breezy...they carry the plague! that's awesome

[breezygirl]

Its true. They harbor fleas which carry the plague bacteria. One of my clients lost her airedale to plague 2 summers ago. It got plague from the fleas on the squirrel it caught and killed. About every other year there is a plague outbreak here in Arvada and the airedale got plague in Denver. They also carry lepto which is zoonotic meaning it can be caught by humans. Colorado is having a serious lepto outbreak and has been for about 3 years now.

[kona0197]

It is strange, because spiders do not bother me a bit. However, snakesl. . . I can hardly type the word, that's how visceral my terror of them is. I have tried to watch them at the zoo, but I always have to leave.

We have 2 pet snakes...

[breezygirl]

What kind? I have had snakes as pets over the years. I liked them .

[Iggy]

Remind me Iggy never to get you a canister vacuum as a gift. You might not appreciate it and just suck me right up into it.

Ah, I don't kill any thing that is domesticated- like cats, dogs, white rats (used to raise them when I was in Jr. High & sold them to the Uof Wash), pet birds,most people, etc. But if it is wild and belongs outside, then I classify it as a Varmit and if it comes into MY home, then it is fair game and I will kill it!

In Oregon we had Wolf Spiders. They actually hunt their prey. Had one jump on my 5 week old kitten. I grabbed the kitten, shook the Wolf Spider off of him and then sucked the spider up in the vacuum! He almost didn't go- I had to beat the hose nozzle against the floor to get him to let loose of the end.

I swear, I think I heard him scream when I lit the fire to the bag in the burning barrel! Argh- I really do hate, loathe, detest spiders. There is a purpose for every creature on the face of the earth, I know this. But dang, what purpose is there really for spiders and slugs????

Snakes where I come from are pretty harmless, unless you are mice, rodents, bugs, etc. I catch garter snakes and turn them loose down shrew holes. Only way to get rid of shrews. They also make pretty good fish bait. I only use the large garter snakes, cut them up and go fishing. Trout love them.

[pam]

At least it appears you think of me as domesticated. hahahahahahaha

[Iggy]

WOW Iggy!!!! I do have a pretty serious issue with squirrels though. They carry fleas and plague and leptospirosis.

Not just squirrels either, pretty much all rodents. It is the Prairie Dogs in the Dakotas whose fleas carry the bubonic plague.

It is the Norway Rats, wood rats, field mice, squirrels, chipmunks, etc that have the fleas that infect the cats and dogs and humans in Oregon. Had all of those on my acerage. Oh, had racoons too- only good racoon is a dead and buried racoon! Hate them too.

When I had my dog and cats in Oregon, I used Advantage on them monthly. Kept the fleas at bay, and none of us got bit or sick. I also burned the disposable vacuum bag after I vacuumed. I didn't wait for it to filll up. Flea eggs can hatch in 7 days- for me it was best to put in a fresh bag each time I vacuumed. I vacuumed every other day too.

[Iggy]

At least it appears you think of me as domesticated. hahahahahahaha

Yep, you are among the hundred or so people I consider domesticated.

[pam]

Yep, you are among the hundred or so people I consider domesticated.

Wow I am truly honored, truly honored.

[breezygirl]

Iggy....Coons have been a big problem here. I think it was 2 years ago that the coon population had a distemper outbreak and for awhile animal control in Arvada was picking up as many as 40 sick/dying coons per week.

On the weird side...... the other day I picked up my newspaper off the driveway about 5 in the morning. I noticed it was wet but thought it was dew till I got inside and noticed the smell. A freaking fox peed on my newspaper! Hows that for annoying? I couldnt get the smell of fox pee off my hand for a couple of hours. If you have never smelled it before its kind of a cross between tomcat pee and skunk. Every dog I touched that day either shied away from me or was so interested in smelling my hand that I had to just let them get it out of their system before we could continue. I live in a very urban suburb of Denver and see as much wildlife as I ever did living rural in Montana. I have seen buzzards on my block, had hawks hunt and bathe in my yard,have fox and coon in my yard and I live within walking distance of city hall so its not like I'm even on the edge of town. Im right in the middle. Its pretty cool really....... I like the local wildlife and find it amazing that it can survive in the heart of the city.

[Iggy]

On the weird side...... the other day I picked up my newspaper off the driveway about 5 in the morning. I noticed it was wet but thought it was dew till I got inside and noticed the smell. A freaking fox peed on my newspaper! Hows that for annoying? I couldn't get the smell of fox pee off my hand for a couple of hours. If you have never smelled it before its kind of a cross between tomcat pee and skunk.

Wow, I thought where I lived in Oregon was cool- I was 5 miles from town- thus I was 5 miles inland from the ocean. I had a male bobcat that called my acreage home. Watched him sit on my porch and clean himself. Had two coyotes too- they didn't stay for long.

My ex chased and attempted to kill a couple of civet cats. They are related to skunks. They are smaller, no white stripe on their backs, they stink as bad as skunks.

To get any animal smell, er spray of any kind off, wash with Pine Sol. Put just a few drops on your hands, then wash with soap and water.

My ex got sprayed by the civet cats- from head to toe. It was in Jan, we were snowed in and he was on our rickety front porch in his shirt sleeves chasing them around with my best butcher knife! Yes, he was 12 sheets to the wind drunk. I refused to let him back in the house. I gave him a bucket of hot water with about 1 cup of pine sol in it and a huge sponge. I told him that he had to strip to the skin, wash himself completely with the pine sol water, put his clothes on the porch and only then would I let him in the house. After screaming at me for nearly half an hour- he finally gave in.

We could not afford to toss his clothes, so I tossed them into the machine with 1/4 c Pine Sol, laundry detergent and washed them.

The skunk spray came out. Not so for the porch or my butcher knife. After two weeks, we tore the porch off, and rebuilt a new one. I burned the butcher knife.

My male cat constantly sprayed one wall in my house too. I finally wouldn't let him in. Got so tired of scrubbing the wall and carpet with pine sol. Couldn't catch him to take him to the vet. And the vet said that fixing him wouldn't stop the spraying anyway.

[pam]

Wow, I thought where I lived in Oregon was cool- I was 5 miles from town- thus I was 5 miles inland from the ocean. I had a male bobcat that called my acreage home. Watched him sit on my porch and clean himself. Had two coyotes too- they didn't stay for long.

My ex chased and attempted to kill a couple of civet cats. They are related to skunks. They are smaller, no white stripe on their backs, they stink as bad as skunks.

To get any animal smell, er spray of any kind off, wash with Pine Sol. Put just a few drops on your hands, then wash with soap and water.

My ex got sprayed by the civet cats- from head to toe. It was in Jan, we were snowed in and he was on our rickety front porch in his shirt sleeves chasing them around with my best butcher knife! Yes, he was 12 sheets to the wind drunk. I refused to let him back in the house. I gave him a bucket of hot water with about 1 cup of pine sol in it and a huge sponge. I told him that he had to strip to the skin, wash himself completely with the pine sol water, put his clothes on the porch and only then would I let him in the house. After screaming at me for nearly half an hour- he finally gave in.

We could not afford to toss his clothes, so I tossed them into the machine with 1/4 c Pine Sol, laundry detergent and washed them.

The skunk spray came out. Not so for the porch or my butcher knife. After two weeks, we tore the porch off, and rebuilt a new one. I burned the butcher knife.

My male cat constantly sprayed one wall in my house too. I finally wouldn't let him in. Got so tired of scrubbing the wall and carpet with pine sol. Couldn't catch him to take him to the vet. And the vet said that fixing him wouldn't stop the spraying anyway.

So not tomato juice to rid yourself of the smell of skunk?