BUGS!!!!

Jem

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O. M. :censored: G. !!!!!!!!!
I was out this morning to try and do some yard work. We have piles of dead branches that need to be cleaned up and broken down. We save the thicker twigs/branches for kindling and dump the rest with our lawn trimmings for garbage day.
But HOLY POOPERS! The black flies are in a FRENZY right now! I could only stand to be out there for maybe 45 minutes....if that. It wasn't so bad yesterday when I did my raking, because there was a bit of a wind to keep them at bay some of the time...but the air is dead today. At first I would just walk around as I broke down the branches. Then I pulled my hood over my head and tied it so only my eyes and nose were showing. But then they started to concentrate in front of my face. I always wear long sleeved shirts and pants to be outside so the rest of me was somewhat protected. My husband came home, saw me, and just laughed. I must have looked like a very confused robber wandering the back yard....I did have some choice words for him though...:lol:
My husband says he has a bug suit that he used to use for fishing....I may try that if he still has it...it might be at his Dad's house in storage.

Anyway, no more yard work today...unless the wind picks up.

How are the bugs for you right now?
 

susanm9006

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We are still relatively bug free here. I have seen the bees are out but no flies. I have to be especially careful of black flies because I get huge swelling, worse than a bee sting, from their bites. I do have a hat with a net to keep my face and neck safe if there are biting flies or bees out. You might want one of those.
 
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Talien

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It's almost always windy here so we don't have bug problems, even on calm days they stay in the wooded areas. I haven't even seen a single mosquito around the house since moving here and unless I go way back in the woods I just don't run across them.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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We get a rush these bugs that look like a cross between a giant mosquito and a daddy-long leg spider every spring. They don’t bite but they have no sense of personal space either. Fortunately they have calmed down.

There is some kind of bee looking bug swarming one side of my yard every day now though. They seem to be in constant motion just above the grass. It makes them hard to get a good look for identification. DH thinks they might be these bugs that look like bees but aren’t. Our pest company was here Friday to check the termite traps (no activity!) and he called them ground bees but hes the termite guy so its not his specialty.

I accidentally had another buzzing bug in my hand last weekend. It was in one of the flowers I was potting. I had tipped it and felt a buzzing against my garden glove! Fortunately it wasn’t aggressive. I ended up getting it in a small spade and putting it in the grass. Whatever it was was black with a rust colored fuzzy top bit.
 

muffy

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I'm still waitihg for the Cicadas to make an appearance around here. I haven't seen one yet but I don't get out much.
 

Talien

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We get a rush these bugs that look like a cross between a giant mosquito and a daddy-long leg spider every spring. They don’t bite but they have no sense of personal space either. Fortunately they have calmed down.
Those are male mosquitoes.
 

Willowy

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We fortunately had a freeze last week so any early bugs got froze. Although the barn swallows are back so there must be some bugs. But I haven't gotten bitten yet.
 

game misconduct

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:flail:well apparently last night the gf is begining to see the pros of allowing graycie sleep in the bedroom with us .summer is here and the sewer roaches have started trying to invade by coming inside from the drain pipes:shocked::lol: guess when she used bathroom late last night flipped on the switch spooked a roach that dashed into our room gf freaked but graycie was on it caught it chewed it up killed it then carried it out of the bedroom to continue playing with it:lol:so i had to get the roach before graycie ate it.:lol:i told gf seee a toe bitten here and there or leg trapped by a cat using it as a pillow isnt so bad when graycie is protecting you from roaches:lol:it wont be until graycie decides to gift her with a dead soggy roach as a present to wake up to hahai left that possibility out
 

IndyJones

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Yup crane flies. They are harmless and either pollinate or don't eat at all as adults in some species. They just look kind of creepy.

They are also called mosquito hawks.
 

BellaGooch

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I wish they could take care of the mosquitoes! Maybe then I wouldn’t mind them as much!
I think they do. I’ve always known them as skeeter-eaters because I’ve heard they eat mosquitoes. I could be wrong though.
 

game misconduct

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I wish they could take care of the mosquitoes! Maybe then I wouldn’t mind them as much!
you can buy mantis ooths(egg sacs) at home depots or online hatch them release into your garden :lol: they are great predators of skeeters flies and other bugs but i always had the best luck running a fly zapper on the front porch by the door on summer nights very satisfying hearing them fry:lol:of course its best to eliminate any sources of standing water in/around your yard so they cant breed
 

MoochNNoodles

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Fortunately we have good bats around here. I get praying mantis in my petunias every summer and sometimes I find them hanging out in the beans. I think being in the country here it's just fighting an uphill battle. They will nest in the trees and shrubs too. A few years ago the people renting a place next door kind of abandoned it and it went up for sale. We knew the people who actually owned the property so in exchange for mowing the grass a few times they let us salvage a huge stash of landscape supplies. But we also found a small abandoned pond hiding on the other side of their deck. :cringe: DH and his friend managed to get it empty enough to dump it; but I can only imagine what the mosquitoes were doing over there!
 

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I usually just point them out to the cats...they'll take care of it and get some play time in too!:)
i used to also but then i remember who knows where the flies have been(dog poop etc.) roaches i know are gaining access from my bathroom drains sewer pipes :barf:gross stuff aside i know my apartments have a pest guy spray the complex weekly so i try to get any bugs before graycie does since she eats what she kills i rather not have a build up of bug poisons ingested from contaminated insects
 
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