Hard to Love Species

Oh, Mira, I think they’re the most beautiful, wonderful, fascinating little creatures! I actually really miss them in my current super-dry house. I’ve only lived in one house in the Salt Lake area that had a moist enough environment for a healthy population of house centipedes. The first time I saw one was in the bathtub, and I had never seen or heard of this crazy thing in my life. My first reaction was utter shock and slight freak-out—anyone who knows them knows they’re freaky-fast and quite unique-looking. But it couldn’t get out, so I started watching it run around the tub… I thought it looked like some kind of insect/shrimp/long-lost-ancient-sea-creature-from-the-deep! The undulating waves of its many legs are mesmerizing. And, learning about it, I found out that it’s just as helpful to have around the house as a spider. I was an instant fan! The only thing that oogied me out was when they would go into my baby’s room (which back then was deemed a no-go and squish-worthy). Their dying is very curly and twitchy…and takes a long time. Let’s just say that they are MUCH better alive! I hope you can overcome your nopist view of them someday. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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My first encounter with house centipedes was my entomologist / diplopodologist friend spotting and then enthusiastically chasing one in an effort to catch it for closer inspection. I believe @tigerbb 's reaction to these creatures sums them up perfectly.

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Yes! the elbows! I can never understand what is so great about my elbows, but they love them!

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@tigerbb, @mangum I hope so too. After the ridiculous progress I’ve made with the arachnid dudes I have hope for the future. I am not a squisher (anymore, I’m reformed) I’m more of a run-out-of-the-room-until-my-heart-rate-is-manageable-then-figure-out-how-to-place-the-thing-outsider these days. In between my convulsions I must say that even I can admire their beauty and complexity, mosquito-eating/general indoor insect control ways and if they’d promise not to hide in startling places, stay still and not bite me, we can maybe have coffee and take it from there on a journey towards, “yep!” Just months ago I was still running from spiders, now I’m looking for every one I can find even if I still get freaked.

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June Bugs. I hate them. I managed to stop overreacting to them because of mothing, but I still hate them.

Seeing animals, even insects, being parasitized always turns my stomach.

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Aish, Great-tailed Grackles are one of my favourites…

I really dislike domestic cats (ticks are #2 due to previous issues with Lyme Disease).

When I was younger, all my encounters with people’s cats were negative or near-negative. Finding dead birds, nearly getting scratched, etc.
Somewhere along the line, I found that domestic cats were one of the worst invasives in the world, further increasing my dislike for them.
Add in knowledge about the possibility of disease to unborn babies and the fact that they’ll make you go crazy and there you have it!

And here we are today. Every time I see a local stray cat enter my yard/stalk my backyard birds, I release the dogs to chase 'em away.

Sure, call me cruel.

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I can’t say I’ve got a specific phobia. Roaches, one ran over my head while in Mexico, and it freaked me out. Otherwise, just kill them. I’ve had a bite by a Notonectid, which hurt like hell, but was nothing compared to a bite my neighbours cat gave me. Ticks, biting flies and parasites don’t bother me much. I’ve never had a botfly infestation, but parasites are kind of cool. After all, they inhabit an environment that is actively trying to kill them - that deserves some respect.
The organism that bugs me the most is crows. I know they are smart, wonderful birds, but their voices grate on my nerves. I think that the world would be a much better place if crows had a melodic call!

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yeah. sure. just maybe from a distance? Same with our friends the ticks.

Have you heard them talk sweetly among family though? It’s much less grating. Corvidae can definitely get annoying to listen to but honestly, I’ll take the crows language over the blue jays doing awful, overly whiny red-shouldered hawk impressions any day!

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I don’t feel like the one heart was enough for this so…:hearts::hearts::hearts:

Same here! Welcome to the forums @Hwise01, and does anyone know what the bird is?

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the bird looks like some kind of Oriole.

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Looks like a Bullock’s or Baltimore Oriole, either female or winter male.

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I’d have to go with bears and bats. Neither fear is totally irrational since bears wander through my yard on a regular basis and bats live in my attic and sometimes get loose in the house. I was definitely much less scared once I learned to tell the difference between “squirrel or deer” sounds in the woods and “probably bear” sounds. But I have to admit, if there’s a bat flying around the house, I’m still likely to hide under the covers or under a chair and let my dad take care of it.

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Silverfish and house centipedes. There were a ton of both in my house when I was little, and they were constantly falling out of things or sliding out from under stuff. While they no longer bother me so much, and I’m fascinated by most other arthropods, I still don’t like either.

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When I lived in Penetanguishene Ontario, I used to get bats in my bedroom (top floor). I learned to recognise the sound they made, and would put on my leather mitts, catch them, and put them outside. They are amazing in the sense that they can fly right at you, then zip around like nothing. I kind of miss doing that…

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Here in Italy there are not “lovely” animals that love to drop their eggs in human flesh but Hippoboscidae and Tabanidae are pretty boring.

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Even though Kazakhstan got all those Solpugidae that run into your camping tent in the steppe, Tabanidae and Hippoboscidae and myriad of gnat that won’t let you enjoy yourself in the wild, Wohlfahrtia magnifica that can shoot a larvae into your eye on the fly, i still don’t like birds. i just do not.

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#1 Personal-kill on sight: Periplaneta americana, the so-called “American Cockroach” (but introduced), 2"-5cm of skittering, flying, beady-eyed, long twitchy antennaed insect with no redeeming ecological value that I can find.
[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1924771]

#2 Worst environmental destroyer in my area (excluding humans): Sus scrofa domesticus, Feral Hog. Too smart so hard to eliminate, too destructive…but they make mighty fine BBQ.

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Ufff, cockroaches are def nasty.

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