Bug stories - Page 2

lizzymahoney · 05-28-2007, 07:38 PM

Bourbon as first aid? Definitely on my list. Thanks for the tip.

Ammonia is alkaline and an effective neutralizer for formic acid. It does help if immediately applied to wasp stings or ant bites. Our lovely fire ants will leave welts and cute tiny pustules of localized staph infection as well as a tolerable sting and less tolerable itch. If you immediately swab them with ammonia the pain and itch and swelling and infection are all eliminated. I've had dozens of bites at one time with no after effects.

I think I'll see if bourbon enhances the efficacy.

Cloud · 05-28-2007, 08:39 PM

I think it's supposed to be administered internally!

lizzymahoney · 05-28-2007, 08:53 PM

Sure. Drink the bourbon, swab the ammonia. Just be careful when you have 18 little stingers.

xoxoxoBruce · 05-30-2007, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzymahoney

I dunno (says the atheist), a praying anything would be a yawner for me. Mantises are a lovely color, though.

I always thought they should be called Preying Mantises.

My understanding is that they will bite humans if handled incorrectly. Could be wrong.

Somewhere in the Cellar, there's a picture of a mantis eating a bird it caught, on the wing. Reached out and snagged it flying by.

lizzymahoney · 05-30-2007, 08:14 AM

I had this patient that was an interesting case all by herself. "Wrath of God type of stuff." Her communication was severely limited. Her stress level was through the roof. Anything I could say about why would be speculation and an invasion.

There was always something new with her: some new crisis as with failure to thrive, combativeness, ravenous hunger and others all cycling.

Most of the time she had rashy and/or welted skin conditions, and a compulsion to scratch herself bloody. Whenever we had a change of staff bringing in new nurses someone would misdiagnose scabies.

Scabies leave some tell tale signs, of which she had none. They afflict certain places more than others, and that wasn't her problem. They are easily acquired and transferred to others. As with someone who has lice, the mere mention of it starts health care workers scratching everywhere. I'm itchy just writing about it.

Docs would order treatment on the entreaties from nursing, and she'd have to be bathed or examined or salved on some schedule for whatever someone thought they saw. Her roommate never acquired any of this despite the both of them roaming about the locked unit and ending up in each others beds or chairs or clothing.

I've had patients with scabies and it's a challenge. The little critters burrow in the epidermis and leave silvery and sometimes black trails. They lay eggs which can persist through treatments, and the health care worker doing the treating can easily pick up scabies without knowing it for a day or more. Just a hint of wrist between gown and glove, or an ill advised brush of the hair off of a sweaty face and neck can provide the ideal location for an infestation.

jester · 05-30-2007, 08:50 AM

when i was younger, myself & a couple of other girls were at vbs playing outside around an old stump. unknown to us there was some kind of bee hive - we stirred it up. they flew all over us. (please note i was a child, well atleast maybe 8 or 9) anyway i had this shirt with a pear on it and my reasoning was they were attracted to it - so in front of several people i took my shirt off and slung it away from me - yeah probably not a good idea but oh well. ended up with about 3 or 4 stings

smurfalicious · 05-30-2007, 08:57 AM

i once saw a 13 year old kid get bit on the neck by a scorpion of decent size in Mexico a few years ago. he foamed at the mouth and they rushed him to the nearest hospital... 4 1/2 hours away.

what was scarier was seeing those things - can't recall their proper name - but are commonly referred to as "baby killers". they kinda look like half crab, half spider and can jump a few feet to inject its venom into your body.

Cloud · 05-30-2007, 09:07 AM

ooooh, maybe that's the thing I killed!

Hime · 05-30-2007, 10:52 AM

My favorite bug story:

My parents live in a house in the suburbs of Washington, DC. In the back yard, there's a beautiful, old-growth maple tree. My mother loves it.

Now, when I was maybe three years old, the 13-year locusts hatched, and our entire neighborhood was full of them. I don't know how widespread they are geographically, but if you have never seen this phenomenon, it is important to know that they are everywhere -- meaning that this huge tree in our backyard was completely covered with locusts.

My mom was worried that the locusts would destroy the bark and kill the tree, so she ran outside with a bucket filled with some kind of poison and started picking the locusts off the tree and dropping them in the bucket as fast as she could, working her way around the circumference of the tree.

When she got to the opposite side of the tree, though, she ran into the competition -- a large raccoon that was working his way around the tree in the opposite direction, picking up the locusts and popping them in his mouth.

Both the raccoon and my mom shrieked and ran away in opposite directions.

lizzymahoney · 05-30-2007, 10:58 AM

I read... somewhere... that this is the year for a large population of 17 year cicadas in North America.

Same source said that pets and wild animals will feast to gluttony on the plump insects as they rise from the ground.

I have a lot of strange recipes, but one that I always liked was an Amerindian dish of fried locusts. Use a cast iron skillet, put in the locusts, cook over fire until they pop. The caution was you must use a lid or they will fly away. D'oh.

Rexmons · 05-30-2007, 10:58 AM

3 years ago i was vacationing in the dominican republic staying at a friends, fathers villa. it was soo hot i ended up dragging my aero mattress out onto the second floor balcony. in the middle of my sleep i wake up to my friends screaming for me to wake up, when i do there is this crazy big spider chillin right next to me on the wall. this thing looked like an anorexic king crab spider with trippy ass colors. as soon as i jumped up it took off but now that i think about it, it was probably hanging out by me to catch all the other insects i was attracting so even though spiders freak me out, i still appreciate them every bit.

Hime · 05-30-2007, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzymahoney

I read... somewhere... that this is the year for a large population of 17 year cicadas in North America.

Same source said that pets and wild animals will feast to gluttony on the plump insects as they rise from the ground.

I have a lot of strange recipes, but one that I always liked was an Amerindian dish of fried locusts. Use a cast iron skillet, put in the locusts, cook over fire until they pop. The caution was you must use a lid or they will fly away. D'oh.

hee!

My dog liked to very patiently watch them shed their skins and then chomp them the minute they were out. I guess they were more tender with the new skin?

Happy Monkey · 05-30-2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzymahoney

I read... somewhere... that this is the year for a large population of 17 year cicadas in North America.

Yup, up in the midwest. They were in my area in 2004.

05-28-2007, 08:39 PM	#17
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	I think it's supposed to be administered internally! __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

05-30-2007, 08:57 AM	#22
smurfalicious Tool. Not the band - you are one. Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: 501 Northlake Blvd., North Palm Beach FL Posts: 329	i once saw a 13 year old kid get bit on the neck by a scorpion of decent size in Mexico a few years ago. he foamed at the mouth and they rushed him to the nearest hospital... 4 1/2 hours away. what was scarier was seeing those things - can't recall their proper name - but are commonly referred to as "baby killers". they kinda look like half crab, half spider and can jump a few feet to inject its venom into your body. __________________

05-30-2007, 09:07 AM	#23
Cloud ... Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 8,360	ooooh, maybe that's the thing I killed! __________________ "Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"

05-30-2007, 10:58 AM	#26
Rexmons - Kavkaz United - Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 613	3 years ago i was vacationing in the dominican republic staying at a friends, fathers villa. it was soo hot i ended up dragging my aero mattress out onto the second floor balcony. in the middle of my sleep i wake up to my friends screaming for me to wake up, when i do there is this crazy big spider chillin right next to me on the wall. this thing looked like an anorexic king crab spider with trippy ass colors. as soon as i jumped up it took off but now that i think about it, it was probably hanging out by me to catch all the other insects i was attracting so even though spiders freak me out, i still appreciate them every bit. __________________ "Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me..."

05-28-2007, 07:38 PM	#16
lizzymahoney Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 124	Bourbon as first aid? Definitely on my list. Thanks for the tip. Ammonia is alkaline and an effective neutralizer for formic acid. It does help if immediately applied to wasp stings or ant bites. Our lovely fire ants will leave welts and cute tiny pustules of localized staph infection as well as a tolerable sting and less tolerable itch. If you immediately swab them with ammonia the pain and itch and swelling and infection are all eliminated. I've had dozens of bites at one time with no after effects. I think I'll see if bourbon enhances the efficacy.

05-28-2007, 08:53 PM	#18
lizzymahoney Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 124	Sure. Drink the bourbon, swab the ammonia. Just be careful when you have 18 little stingers.

05-30-2007, 08:14 AM	#20
lizzymahoney Major Inhabitant Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 124	I had this patient that was an interesting case all by herself. "Wrath of God type of stuff." Her communication was severely limited. Her stress level was through the roof. Anything I could say about why would be speculation and an invasion. There was always something new with her: some new crisis as with failure to thrive, combativeness, ravenous hunger and others all cycling. Most of the time she had rashy and/or welted skin conditions, and a compulsion to scratch herself bloody. Whenever we had a change of staff bringing in new nurses someone would misdiagnose scabies. Scabies leave some tell tale signs, of which she had none. They afflict certain places more than others, and that wasn't her problem. They are easily acquired and transferred to others. As with someone who has lice, the mere mention of it starts health care workers scratching everywhere. I'm itchy just writing about it. Docs would order treatment on the entreaties from nursing, and she'd have to be bathed or examined or salved on some schedule for whatever someone thought they saw. Her roommate never acquired any of this despite the both of them roaming about the locked unit and ending up in each others beds or chairs or clothing. I've had patients with scabies and it's a challenge. The little critters burrow in the epidermis and leave silvery and sometimes black trails. They lay eggs which can persist through treatments, and the health care worker doing the treating can easily pick up scabies without knowing it for a day or more. Just a hint of wrist between gown and glove, or an ill advised brush of the hair off of a sweaty face and neck can provide the ideal location for an infestation.

05-30-2007, 08:50 AM	#21
jester why so serious Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,712	when i was younger, myself & a couple of other girls were at vbs playing outside around an old stump. unknown to us there was some kind of bee hive - we stirred it up. they flew all over us. (please note i was a child, well atleast maybe 8 or 9) anyway i had this shirt with a pear on it and my reasoning was they were attracted to it - so in front of several people i took my shirt off and slung it away from me - yeah probably not a good idea but oh well. ended up with about 3 or 4 stings

05-30-2007, 10:52 AM	#24
Hime Extraordinary Machine Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Outside of Washington, DC Posts: 307	My favorite bug story: My parents live in a house in the suburbs of Washington, DC. In the back yard, there's a beautiful, old-growth maple tree. My mother loves it. Now, when I was maybe three years old, the 13-year locusts hatched, and our entire neighborhood was full of them. I don't know how widespread they are geographically, but if you have never seen this phenomenon, it is important to know that they are everywhere -- meaning that this huge tree in our backyard was completely covered with locusts. My mom was worried that the locusts would destroy the bark and kill the tree, so she ran outside with a bucket filled with some kind of poison and started picking the locusts off the tree and dropping them in the bucket as fast as she could, working her way around the circumference of the tree. When she got to the opposite side of the tree, though, she ran into the competition -- a large raccoon that was working his way around the tree in the opposite direction, picking up the locusts and popping them in his mouth. Both the raccoon and my mom shrieked and ran away in opposite directions.

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