Observations in the Natural World

A cousin of my father's once nearly died from black widow spider bite(s). She had put on a coat she left hanging in a wooden garage and paid the price.

Now, it's possible I learned from that not to trust things you leave outside, but I really think I have an instinct about it and don't need to hear a story like that to be cautious. I simply do not leave something like that hanging outside, nor do I leave my boots outside; and I have noticed that the black widow likes wood. Perhaps I was prompted to notice that latter bit by Dad's cousin.

One exception is a pair of old tennis shoes I use when doing my favorite type of fishing, which is to get directly in the creek/river away from the bank. It can be pretty tough on your feet, and I use these for water shoes. I do, however, check them before putting them on!

Today this is what came tumbling out, dead. It reminds me of some of those pictures they show for the ancestors of spiders. I don't know what it is, but if it looks a little small to you, believe me it looked pretty big in that instant.



I was proud of myself for remembering to use something for scale, my thumb, but now I realize I was hasty; I should have counted the legs. What is this thing LOL! Below is an image from BBC news that shows a reconstruction of a newly found spider ancestor. There are some similarities by golly, but my bug did not have that long tail and its rear is bigger and flatter.

"What is it, Bones?"

"I'm a doctor, Jim, not an entomologist."

Picture is a little fuzzy but it looks like a tick to me.

Quote: kenarman

Picture is a little fuzzy but it looks like a tick to me.

too fuzzy, yeah, sorry

nope not a tick. You get ticks that big?

The assassin bug is possible, but I don't think so. This guy's head didn't stick up like an assassin bug's head and the rear end is really big and flat

Giant tick.

I had a spider in my house that was both large and quick as Usain Bolt.

Quote: odiousgambit

too fuzzy, yeah, sorry

nope not a tick. You get ticks that big?

The assassin bug is possible, but I don't think so. This guy's head didn't stick up like an assassin bug's head and the rear end is really big and flat

Not where I live but American Dog Ticks can apparently reach 15mm. But looking again probably not quite the right shape.

I enjoyed this story, just this morning.

Gillian Hicks and her boyfriend, Michael Litersky, were sitting on the porch of Hicks’s apartment in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, when they noticed a strange animal slinking along the fence. It looked a bit like a raccoon, but its color was too mustardy, and a bit like a cat, but its tail flexed and gripped with remarkable dexterity.

A Google search suggested the mysterious beast might be some type of primate, maybe a lemur. Whatever it was, it was cute—with the big, imploring eyes and rounded ears of a teddy bear—and seemed friendly. The internet says lemurs eat fruit, so Litersky set out some watermelon. As the sun dipped into the Gulf of Mexico on that muggy summer evening in 2019, the couple watched the maybe-a-lemur grasp the melon chunks in its clawed forepaws and nibble away at them.

The next morning, Hicks awoke to screams. Sprinting out of bed, she discovered Litersky and the little animal doing battle in the kitchen. As Hicks would later explain to a local newspaper, Litersky had gotten up early to go to work. When he’d opened the front door, he’d been surprised to find the critter was still there, waiting on the step. And then, Hicks recounted, “it just bum-rushed him.”

Litersky tried to shoo his assailant outside, but it latched onto his leg, biting him and slashing his calf. Grabbing a frying pan, Litersky backhanded the animal into the bathroom while Hicks dialed 911. Sheriff’s deputies arrived quickly, but, outmatched, they could only peek around the door and watch as the quadruped ripped up the shower curtain. Finally, a team of animal control officers and officials from the state wildlife agency managed to corner the creature. It wasn’t a lemur but a kinkajou, a carnivorous mammal native to the South American rainforest. Hicks drove Litersky, bleeding, to an urgent care center for bandages and antibiotics. His adorable assailant was taken to a state facility and later adopted out to a Floridian with a penchant for (and proper experience with) exotic pets

Quote: kenarman

Picture is a little fuzzy but it looks like a tick to me.

currently I am thinking it was an assassin bug that deformed some after dying, making it hard to identify. Not sure though.

As for ticks, bear in mind that is a thumb, not a pinky, in the image.

As for ticks, I wind up with quite a collection because to kill them I toss them in an old bottle of rubbing alcohol. I've seen them survive hot tapwater, trying to just wash them down the drain. They are really tough. So I am making the case I know a tick when I see it. I'd say this is collection is from pulling them off me and the dog* for a little over a year.

Some are actually smaller than the head of a pin. I hate the little ones the most, they make a nasty spot, even if you get them off right away. Bad as any chigger bite and more persistent. I guess I'm either immune to the diseases, after all these years, or that I get them off before they get blood is what works.



* the dog repels them now due to the new stuff Bravecto, taken internally. They wind up trying to get off her, often winding up on top of her head. Some of them trying to get off find me, I think, but of course they find me on their own too.

I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]

Quote: odiousgambit

currently I am thinking it was an assassin bug that deformed some after dying, making it hard to identify. Not sure though.

As for ticks, bear in mind that is a thumb, not a pinky, in the image.

As for ticks, I wind up with quite a collection because to kill them I toss them in an old bottle of rubbing alcohol. I've seen them survive hot tapwater, trying to just wash them down the drain. They are really tough. So I am making the case I know a tick when I see it. I'd say this is collection is from pulling them off me and the dog* for a little over a year.

Some are actually smaller than the head of a pin. I hate the little ones the most, they make a nasty wound even if you get them off right away. I guess I'm either immune to the diseases, after all these years, or that I get them off before they get blood is what works.



* the dog repels them now due to the new stuff Bravecto, taken internally. They wind up trying to get off her, often winding up on top of her head. Some of them find me, I think, but of course they find me on their own too.

I think that is likely more ticks than I have seen in my life. I will defer to your opinion.

Quote: kenarman

I think that is likely more ticks than I have seen in my life. I will defer to your opinion.

LOL.

There's definitely a price to pay going into the woods where the deer thrive. They were so bad a few weeks ago I just didn't go. I think it was because it had been too cold, then finally some warm days came and they were going for it