Again with the Great Grey Hunter

I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these really
disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage room on the
patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets. They are pale brown and
have extra long "jumping legs" and they can truly jump about 6 feet

One of them got into the house this morning. When I got up to get ready for
work, Persia was in "hunting mode". She had chased/swatted/followed this
creature into my bedroom right outside of the master bathroom door. The odd
thing is the cricket "played dead" like an oppossum (or like a roly-poly
bug). It curled all up and wouldn't move even when she batted at it. So of
course she lost interest and wandered off. Even *I* thought it was dead and
was going to pick it up in some tissue and flush it down the drain. But a
moment later it had uncurled itself and was back to normal. I called,
"Persia!" She came running and squeaked at me. Sniffed around it and BOING!
It went off! And the chase was back on! I have no idea how it ended, other
than I haven't seen it again since I got home. Maybe she really killed it;
maybe it's hiding. Maybe she ate it. I'm not sure I want to know the
details

Jill

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 17:59:21 -0500, "Jill McQuown"
wrote:

I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these really
disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage room on the
patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets. They are pale brown and
have extra long "jumping legs" and they can truly jump about 6 feet

One of them got into the house this morning. When I got up to get ready for
work, Persia was in "hunting mode". She had chased/swatted/followed this
creature into my bedroom right outside of the master bathroom door. The odd
thing is the cricket "played dead" like an oppossum (or like a roly-poly
bug). It curled all up and wouldn't move even when she batted at it. So of
course she lost interest and wandered off. Even *I* thought it was dead and
was going to pick it up in some tissue and flush it down the drain. But a
moment later it had uncurled itself and was back to normal. I called,
"Persia!" She came running and squeaked at me. Sniffed around it and BOING!
It went off! And the chase was back on! I have no idea how it ended, other
than I haven't seen it again since I got home. Maybe she really killed it;
maybe it's hiding. Maybe she ate it. I'm not sure I want to know the
details

Jill

Yoy"ll know when she barfs up the legs!

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 17:59:21 -0500, "Jill McQuown"
wrote:

I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these really
disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage room on the
patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets. They are pale brown and
have extra long "jumping legs" and they can truly jump about 6 feet

Oh, yeah, we have them here in Alabama too. We call 'em "cave
crickets" - - some folks call 'em "camel crickets." Mostly in our
laundry room, occasionally in the house. Hobo ignores them totally.
Speckles thoroughly enjoys chasing these special toys. Bet Persia
would have a blast!!!!

Jeanne

Jill McQuown wrote:

I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these really
disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage room on the
patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets. They are pale brown and
have extra long "jumping legs" and they can truly jump about 6 feet

One of them got into the house this morning. When I got up to get ready for
work, Persia was in "hunting mode". She had chased/swatted/followed this
creature into my bedroom right outside of the master bathroom door. The odd
thing is the cricket "played dead" like an oppossum (or like a roly-poly
bug). It curled all up and wouldn't move even when she batted at it. So of
course she lost interest and wandered off. Even *I* thought it was dead and
was going to pick it up in some tissue and flush it down the drain. But a
moment later it had uncurled itself and was back to normal. I called,
"Persia!" She came running and squeaked at me. Sniffed around it and BOING!
It went off! And the chase was back on! I have no idea how it ended, other
than I haven't seen it again since I got home. Maybe she really killed it;
maybe it's hiding. Maybe she ate it. I'm not sure I want to know the
details

Jill

My apartment building has been infested with these crickets this year.
I'm in Texas and it's not uncommon for me to see about 10-15 of them
each night in my apt. My smallest cat, Mouse, loves to chase them
around. They usually come out about 10pm each night and right at 10pm,
there's Mouse sitting in the middle of the living room floor, looking
around in "patrol" mode. A few nights she has worn herself out and just
laid there watching them. I think they're called cave or camel crickets.
I did some research on the internet about them. Mine will jump right at
me as if they are attacking me if I walk by them.

Bob

ROFL....I'd probably burn the house down trying to get rid of those
supersize grasshoppers.


"Jill McQuown" wrote in message
...
: Hopitus2 wrote:
: Never thought I would be grateful to be pestered with large flying
: palmetto bugs but compared to those crickets they seem like household
: pets now! I would just curl up and die.
:
: Oh, last night Persia caught one of those palmetto bugs. She was carrying
: it around in her mouth (gross!) and was quite surprised when she set it
down
: that it ran off! She took off after it. I think she likes to eat them;
: tasty crunchy snack. Fine with me, just don't come give me kisses
: afterwards (ewwww).
:
: Those things are just gross. One time I was sitting in the bathtub when I
: glanced over and one of those huge palmettos was walking across the tile
: floor, headed straight for me. Would have made a hilarious video as I
: jumped up, leaped three feet over the bug and ran willy-nilly to the
kitchen
: for the bug spray. I then chased it around the bathroom, spraying the
crap
: out of it and chanting "die, die, die!" LOL
:
: Jill
:
: "Bob M" wrote in message
: ...
: Jill McQuown wrote:
:
: I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these
: really disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage
: room on the patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets.
: They are pale brown and have extra long "jumping legs" and they can
: truly jump about 6 feet
:
: One of them got into the house this morning. When I got up to get
: ready for work, Persia was in "hunting mode". She had
: chased/swatted/followed this creature into my bedroom right outside
: of the master bathroom door. The odd thing is the cricket "played
: dead" like an oppossum (or like a roly-poly bug). It curled all up
: and wouldn't move even when she batted at it. So of course she lost
: interest and wandered off. Even *I* thought it was dead and was
: going to pick it up in some tissue and flush it down the drain.
: But a moment later it had uncurled itself and was back to normal.
: I called, "Persia!" She came running and squeaked at me. Sniffed
: around it and BOING! It went off! And the chase was back on! I
: have no idea how it ended, other than I haven't seen it again since
: I got home. Maybe she really killed it; maybe it's hiding. Maybe
: she ate it. I'm not sure I want to know the details
:
: Jill
:
: My apartment building has been infested with these crickets this
: year. I'm in Texas and it's not uncommon for me to see about 10-15
: of them
: each night in my apt. My smallest cat, Mouse, loves to chase them
: around. They usually come out about 10pm each night and right at
: 10pm, there's Mouse sitting in the middle of the living room floor,
: looking around in "patrol" mode. A few nights she has worn herself
: out and just laid there watching them. I think they're called cave
: or camel crickets. I did some research on the internet about them.
: Mine will jump right at me as if they are attacking me if I walk by
: them.
:
: Bob
:
:

On 31 Aug 2003 13:57:46 GMT, (Sherry ) wrote:

Good GAWD. I had to read this twice. a SIX INCH grasshopper? You have six inch
GRASSHOPPERS?? That's like, bigger than a mouse! Unbelievable. I bet you don't
step on them.

Oh, yes, indeed!! They were abundant where we lived in Florida.
They were black, red, and yellow. I stepped on one once - and only
once - and I was barefoot. After that, I always walked *very
carefully* - and rarely barefoot!!

Jeanne

(JBHajos) wrote in message . ..
On 31 Aug 2003 13:57:46 GMT, (Sherry ) wrote:

Good GAWD. I had to read this twice. a SIX INCH grasshopper? You have six inch
GRASSHOPPERS?? That's like, bigger than a mouse! Unbelievable. I bet you don't
step on them.

Oh, yes, indeed!! They were abundant where we lived in Florida.
They were black, red, and yellow. I stepped on one once - and only
once - and I was barefoot. After that, I always walked *very
carefully* - and rarely barefoot!!

Jeanne


Yep, that's them. Bug spray doesn't even slow them down, and they're
heavy-bodied, with lots of goo inside - I make DH step on them. ;-)
------
Krista

PS: BAREFOOT? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

"Bob M" wrote in message
...
Jill McQuown wrote:

I don't know about you, but down here in the mid-South I have these
really
disgusting crickets that always appear in my outdoor storage room on the
patio every summer. They aren't regular crickets. They are pale brown
and
have extra long "jumping legs" and they can truly jump about 6 feet

One of them got into the house this morning. When I got up to get ready
for
work, Persia was in "hunting mode". She had chased/swatted/followed
this
creature into my bedroom right outside of the master bathroom door. The
odd
thing is the cricket "played dead" like an oppossum (or like a roly-poly
bug). It curled all up and wouldn't move even when she batted at it.
So of
course she lost interest and wandered off. Even *I* thought it was dead
and
was going to pick it up in some tissue and flush it down the drain. But
a
moment later it had uncurled itself and was back to normal. I called,
"Persia!" She came running and squeaked at me. Sniffed around it and
BOING!
It went off! And the chase was back on! I have no idea how it ended,
other
than I haven't seen it again since I got home. Maybe she really killed
it;
maybe it's hiding. Maybe she ate it. I'm not sure I want to know the
details

Jill

My apartment building has been infested with these crickets this year.
I'm in Texas and it's not uncommon for me to see about 10-15 of them
each night in my apt. My smallest cat, Mouse, loves to chase them
around. They usually come out about 10pm each night and right at 10pm,
there's Mouse sitting in the middle of the living room floor, looking
around in "patrol" mode. A few nights she has worn herself out and just
laid there watching them. I think they're called cave or camel crickets.
I did some research on the internet about them. Mine will jump right at
me as if they are attacking me if I walk by them.

Bob

They like to hitch a ride on your legs, Bob. One way to combat them is to
spray your yard and check for unwanted riders immediately upon entering your
place. They make excellent bait for fishing;-)
Cheers,
Jack

"JHBennett" wrote in message
...
Spray them with 409 or other high detergent cleaner. Hard shell insects,
such as krickets, roaches, etc. have a wax on their carapace that keeps them
from dehydrating. Detergents/wetting agents raise hell with them, causing
them to dehydrate, and die in Agony (a small town in Indiana, close to
Effigy--where public figures are forever being hanged).
Otherwise, I have noticed that women are forever resorting to some form
of chemical warfare, instead of the simple expedient of crushing the darn
things with their shoe. Must be an aversion to the squish factor ;-)
Cheers,
Jack


My chief aversion to the squish factor is I know exactly who is going to be cleaning
up the squishee.

Jo

Jo Firey wrote:

My chief aversion to the squish factor is I know exactly who is
going to be cleaning up the squishee.

Well, no wonder most men don't have an aversion to that.

Personally, I hate the *crunch* factor. But I would hate making them
die in agony even more - then I'm not only grossed out, I'm also upset
that I'm causing a being to suffer. I just want to dispatch with them
quickly. I have been known to kill a bug by dropping an unabridged
dictionary on it.

Actually, I don't get many bugs in my apartment that would bother me.
Spiders crawl on the ceiling or high up on the wall, and I wouldn't
even notice them if not for Roxy and Smudge going ballistic over them.
I just leave them up there - they don't seem to have much interest in
the lower altitudes in my apartment. I think they sense what their fate
would be if they came down to cat level.

Sometimes I get the little ants that come in for the cat food. Those
guys come in by the thousands, and that bothers me, but there's no
point in killing them, either, because there are many thousands more
outside, just waiting to come in. Whenever I get infested by ants, I
just become extremely anal about cleaning, so there's nothing for the
ants to eat. They then leave my house out of boredom.

I'm glad that I don't get any of the weird and large creepy-crawlies
that people in other parts of the country and the world seem to get.
We might have 7.1 earthquakes here in San Francisco, but by god, we
don't get any really bad bugs!

Joyce