Question Of The Day - Monday, July 22, 2019

MoochNNoodles

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I've just come inside from watering my gardens in the dark because of the heat. I'm going to go ahead and post my question early in case I get busy tomorrow! There were dozens of little frogs in my yard tonight. That's not an exaggeration either! Country living I suppose. One little frog even hopped into the garage on me and did not want to leave! I have a shallow water dish outside and a taller deeper one. Several frogs were hanging out by the water. And one of those yellow caterpillars you aren't supposed to touch.



Do you touch/hold/carry critters and creepy crawlies?




For me that's a no. ;) I will use a stick to relocate caterpillars if need be and a cup to catch some things gently. But I'm not picking things up with my bare hands. I have no desire to hold a snake, lizard, frog, bug, etc. I don't mind them as long as they stay outside and we give each other a little space. :agree: I look but don't touch I guess. :agree:
 

Willowy

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I love frogs and toads! I don't like to bother the wildlife, but, yes, I will pick up frogs and toads and garter snakes if they need to be relocated. I'll also pick up bugs I know to be harmless.

If I'm not sure whether it bites or stings, I'll pick it up in a cup. I never mess with fuzzy caterpillars because I don't know which ones cause irritation, so they always get picked up in a cup.

I'll pick up mice by the tail if possible, but otherwise I don't handle wild mammals without a barrier. I have no desire to get chomped by little rodent teeth or have to worry about rabies. Oh, I did pick up a mole by the scruff once. They don't look like they can bite.
 

Norachan

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Yep, I pick up frogs, beetles, worms, spiders, lizards......pretty much anything as long as I know it doesn't sting or bite. I only handle them to get them out of harms way, I don't want them to get squashed or anything.

Happy is really good at catching moths, she keeps bringing in these giant dusty wood moths and giving them to me. I have to let them out again while they're still in one piece.
 

Mia6

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Yes. I had a toad living in my front garden and I named him Sean. He would let me pick him up and seemed to know when I was out front because he would come out. There are toad houses you can buy but I didn't know about them at that point in time. I don't do snakes though.
 

micknsnicks2mom

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that would depend, on what type of...critter it is.

i gently pick up and move toads quite often. i don't want them run over by my lawn mower.

slugs, i don't touch those with my hands, but i also don't want to harm them. snakes are okay, but since i can't be sure which ones are venomous i don't mess with them. the same for spiders -- can't be sure which ones bite, so they aren't messed with. i do squash spiders that come indoors though, because my two girls (cats) will play with and then eat them. occasional lady bugs that get indoors are gently carried back outdoors. all flies that get indoors are stalked, played with, and then eaten by my two girls.

bees are carefully avoided outdoors, but must be squashed indoors -- the girls. wasps and mosquitos, let's just say they are 'given no quarter'.

the occasional mouse seeking refuge from the cold winter months in my basement is dispatched via mouse traps. mice are fine outdoors, but not in our home.
 

di and bob

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I have always been an animal lover, have raised about every known critter from bats to 5 foot long bullsnakes. I never kill anything unless absolutely necessary, I relocate spiders with my bare hands, never been bit. I even have my husband stop the car and take turtles across the highway when we are traveling. I am busy right now relocating toads that get down in my window well that isn't covered yet in the house we are remodeling, 5 yesterday. I think when you kill something, anything, just because you don't like it, it takes a little piece of your soul, or goes aginst your Karma. I don't kill mice either, they have those pleasant pine smelling sachets at farm supply stores that repel them, they really work. I don't begrudge animals that kill for food, though I do feel a pang for their prey, i guess that is why prey animals such as mice and rabbits have so many young, to keep the species going!
 

mani

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Not spiders unless I know they really, really don't bite. Pretty well anything else I'm OK with. I have a friend who's really into preserving frog habitats and have helped her move many a frog.. I love them. We used to have one that lived on the side of the sink.. a green tree frog.. She used to like being stroked between the eyes (always with a wet finger, of course..).

Toads, no. We have cane toads taking over here and they have poison on their skin. They also look like something out of an evil witch story.
 

Aico & Nacho

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Yes, but only to relocate the creature for it's own good. I use my hands with most things, but if it'll sting or bite I'll use a cup besides with snakes. As long as they're not poisonous I'll move them with my hands. Snakes have actually always fascinated me. I used to own one, a African rock python. Once he got older and was about seven feet long he got seriously aggressive and I had to re-home him with an experienced snake keeper. I still miss him sometimes.
 

Mia6

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We used to have one that lived on the side of the sink.. a green tree frog.. She used to like being stroked between the eyes (always with a wet finger, of course..).
Awwwww.....so sweet!!
 

blueyedgirl5946

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Absolutely not. If a frog makes it into the garage, I shoo him out with my broom. Wasps and spiders, I swat them with the fly swatter. The only ones I touch are the mosquitoes that land on my skin and they get swatted too. I I see anything bigger I call my husband and he deals with it.
 

posiepurrs

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Outside it is usually live and let live. We have several resident garter snakes. A spider that gets inside if bigger than a nickel, gets squashed. They terrify me. If we have a mouse, if I can catch it before the cats kill it, I take it out to release. Usually I don't handle wild things with my bare hands.
 

jcat

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I don't have a problem handling rodents, reptiles, and amphibians, but usually use a tissue or cup to pick up insects, especially after having been bitten by a brown recluse spider (and ending up in the ER; I didn't pick it up, but still got bitten).

I use leather gloves in the case of bats, simply due to the chance of rabies.
 

Jem

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Bare hands if it's something I know how to handle, but most small animals will scurry away if you just shoo them. If they are in my house though, either a trap or bare hands.
Cup or piece of paper for most bugs I find in my house.
And let's face it, if it's a biting or stinging bug, it gets squished (in or out of my house), except for bees, I will TRY to save them.
 

maggiedemi

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