LibertyBell Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Some horrible person made this youtube video (I saw it years ago and not about to look for it now) in which he put a mouse and a giant centipede in a jar together and the little mouse looked so scared, as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. I would have locked that guy in a room with about 1000 of those nasty creatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/22/2025 at 5:01 PM, LibertyBell said: Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out ways to keep these giant carpenter bees out that enter my house every Spring. I don't hurt them or anything. I just close the door and leave for an hour or two; when I come back, they're always gone. They must be smart enough to know how to leave on their own. Expand Check your soffits, these bees were boring holes there and building their homes around my eaves. They are not colony minded, so each bee has its own hole. Al the end of a season, there are many holes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/22/2025 at 5:24 PM, Sundog said: How do you feel about those 3 inch centipedes that like to live in the home? Expand They are a nuisance, but they do eat the various smaller creatures often found around the house, such as silverfish. They are otherwise harmless, unlike their 8" plus tropical counterparts, which have a nasty bite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/22/2025 at 10:24 PM, etudiant said: They are a nuisance, but they do eat the various smaller creatures often found around the house, such as silverfish. They are otherwise harmless, unlike their 8" plus tropical counterparts, which have a nasty bite. Expand I seem to have too many in my house for being a solitary predator. Right around now or April I start to see them again and they peak in September before they pretty much disappear again around late October. They're also hideous looking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/22/2025 at 11:17 PM, Sundog said: I seem to have too many in my house for being a solitary predator. Right around now or April I start to see them again and they peak in September before they pretty much disappear again around late October. They're also hideous looking. Expand Agree that they are really off putting to most of us. But they have their place, hopefully not in the kitchen or dining room. They like dark spaces and they prey on other arthropods, spiders, roaches etc. If you get a surge of them in spring, it may be because your house is the best place for finding food, they may be getting rid of creepy crawlies you do not know about. However, if your garden and basement are damp, your house may simply be their lifeboat. They do not flourish when things are wet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FPizz Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/22/2025 at 11:17 PM, Sundog said: I seem to have too many in my house for being a solitary predator. Right around now or April I start to see them again and they peak in September before they pretty much disappear again around late October. They're also hideous looking. Expand I had a cave cricket in my house like 2 years ago. It was terrifying lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/23/2025 at 1:53 AM, FPizz said: I had a cave cricket in my house like 2 years ago. It was terrifying lol Expand Had those last year. They're freaky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/22/2025 at 10:19 PM, etudiant said: Check your soffits, these bees were boring holes there and building their homes around my eaves. They are not colony minded, so each bee has its own hole. Al the end of a season, there are many holes. Expand omg this is horrible. I noticed these are solitary bees or they exist in pairs. They first come to drink water from my gutters and somehow make it inside. They're not attracted to any particular flower that I need to get rid of, are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/23/2025 at 1:53 AM, FPizz said: I had a cave cricket in my house like 2 years ago. It was terrifying lol Expand Where do they come from? I don't think we have any caves around here. I had a cricket in my house a few years ago, what's the difference between a regular cricket and a cave cricket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/22/2025 at 10:24 PM, etudiant said: They are a nuisance, but they do eat the various smaller creatures often found around the house, such as silverfish. They are otherwise harmless, unlike their 8" plus tropical counterparts, which have a nasty bite. Expand those tropical ones, OMG I hope those don't come inside, I've seen them on my trips, but they were always outside and look like snakes. I only see maybe one every 2-3 years but when I do, it's usually at night and don't get much sleep that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FPizz Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/23/2025 at 1:25 PM, LibertyBell said: Where do they come from? I don't think we have any caves around here. I had a cricket in my house a few years ago, what's the difference between a regular cricket and a cave cricket? Expand Cave crickets are huge. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaphidophoridae 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 On 3/23/2025 at 2:35 PM, FPizz said: Cave crickets are huge. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaphidophoridae Expand wow I'm glad I haven't seen one of those! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 On 3/23/2025 at 1:24 PM, LibertyBell said: omg this is horrible. I noticed these are solitary bees or they exist in pairs. They first come to drink water from my gutters and somehow make it inside. They're not attracted to any particular flower that I need to get rid of, are they? Expand They don't do pairs, the females do all the work, the males are off duty once they have mated. If you have standing water in your gutters, that is a problem, free water and nearby nest space, just takes a bit of digging. Food wise, they are not particular, think tree blossoms are preferred, more of them than the garden plants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 On 3/23/2025 at 1:27 PM, LibertyBell said: those tropical ones, OMG I hope those don't come inside, I've seen them on my trips, but they were always outside and look like snakes. I only see maybe one every 2-3 years but when I do, it's usually at night and don't get much sleep that night. Expand Afaik, they are not attracted to household life, too little food. But they do like trees, often find good sized meals there. I know people who had scolopenders drop on them, very unpleasant experience even disregarding the pain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 On 3/23/2025 at 8:35 PM, LibertyBell said: wow I'm glad I haven't seen one of those! Expand They are harmless, plus they don't make noise. Still, you might worry if you have some rare tapestries stored in a damp basement, these guys will eat anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted Monday at 01:34 PM Share Posted Monday at 01:34 PM On 3/24/2025 at 1:01 AM, etudiant said: Afaik, they are not attracted to household life, too little food. But they do like trees, often find good sized meals there. I know people who had scolopenders drop on them, very unpleasant experience even disregarding the pain. Expand These are prehistoric creatures, one of the first to walk on land (after amphibians.) In ancient times these were even larger-- what a horror show. I think animals were much larger back then because the oxygen content of the air was higher. What do they eat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted Monday at 01:35 PM Share Posted Monday at 01:35 PM On 3/24/2025 at 1:10 AM, etudiant said: They are harmless, plus they don't make noise. Still, you might worry if you have some rare tapestries stored in a damp basement, these guys will eat anything. Expand The generic crickets are very annoyingly noisy though it's been said you can gauge the temperature by timing the interval between their chirps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted Monday at 01:36 PM Share Posted Monday at 01:36 PM On 3/24/2025 at 12:57 AM, etudiant said: They don't do pairs, the females do all the work, the males are off duty once they have mated. If you have standing water in your gutters, that is a problem, free water and nearby nest space, just takes a bit of digging. Food wise, they are not particular, think tree blossoms are preferred, more of them than the garden plants. Expand Yes I'm worried about it right now as we're getting more frequent rains. I had my entire roof and drainage system replaced a few years ago, but it's still happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted Monday at 03:38 PM Share Posted Monday at 03:38 PM On 3/24/2025 at 1:34 PM, LibertyBell said: These are prehistoric creatures, one of the first to walk on land (after amphibians.) In ancient times these were even larger-- what a horror show. I think animals were much larger back then because the oxygen content of the air was higher. What do they eat? Expand Anything that they can catch, mostly other insects and spiders, but also worms and small lizards. Their poison helps dissolve the tissues of their prey, so it is easy to ingest. I'd guess the big ones will take small mammals as well, although shrews predate them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etudiant Posted Monday at 03:47 PM Share Posted Monday at 03:47 PM On 3/24/2025 at 1:36 PM, LibertyBell said: Yes I'm worried about it right now as we're getting more frequent rains. I had my entire roof and drainage system replaced a few years ago, but it's still happening. Expand Your gutters need realignement so they drain properly. That is not a big job, but should have been done when your roof was replaced. You just have to make sure they slope down towards the downspouts, just a little is all it takes. Usually the gutters have supports that screw into the fascia below the roof. Bending those appropriately will normally be enough to fix the problem. Note that the problem often arises when snow and ice accumulate in the gutters. That adds considerable weight, which distorts the initial installation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STORMANLI Posted Monday at 07:08 PM Share Posted Monday at 07:08 PM The rule was 1/4" downward pitch for every 10 feet of gutter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Star Posted Monday at 07:36 PM Share Posted Monday at 07:36 PM So is this pending Alaskan eruption being overblown? (pun intended) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibertyBell Posted Monday at 07:37 PM Share Posted Monday at 07:37 PM On 3/24/2025 at 3:47 PM, etudiant said: Your gutters need realignement so they drain properly. That is not a big job, but should have been done when your roof was replaced. You just have to make sure they slope down towards the downspouts, just a little is all it takes. Usually the gutters have supports that screw into the fascia below the roof. Bending those appropriately will normally be enough to fix the problem. Note that the problem often arises when snow and ice accumulate in the gutters. That adds considerable weight, which distorts the initial installation. Expand I think this is what happened! Everything was fine in 2020 when the roof was redone and the gutters were installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongBeachSurfFreak Posted Monday at 10:18 PM Share Posted Monday at 10:18 PM On 3/24/2025 at 7:36 PM, Dark Star said: So is this pending Alaskan eruption being overblown? (pun intended) Expand Looks to be a rather small VEI 4 eruption of a side vent with a recurrence time of 50 years or so. Cool to watch but a very small climate effect. The main cone has a recurrence time of something like 5,000 years and I would think would be much larger VEI 5 or 6. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forkyfork Posted Tuesday at 12:46 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:46 PM it's cute seeing people on edge about a possible warm day in march 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cfa Posted Thursday at 02:53 AM Share Posted Thursday at 02:53 AM On 3/25/2025 at 12:46 PM, forkyfork said: it's cute seeing people on edge about a possible warm day in march Expand And if it were a day exported from mid-January it’d somehow manage to be “normal” or “expected” for late March by someone on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted Friday at 03:41 PM Share Posted Friday at 03:41 PM New AI Model Promises Faster, Smarter Weather Predictions The AI-Powered Aardvark Weather project aims to transform weather forecasting for a fraction of the cost of traditional models. https://decrypt.co/311556/new-ai-model-promises-faster-smarter-weather-predictions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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