Monday, August 18, 2014

Bugz, Bugz, Bugz...

I got a quick .2 inches of rain yesterday evening. Wish there would have been more, but I should have gotten about 40 gallons of catchment out of that.

Problem is when we get rain here or right here where I live it brings out thousands of pesky little flying bugs. They look like the equivalent of flying piss ants they are so tiny. They are attracted to white light, but the amber or yellow bug lights don't seem to attract them. I have both in here and after the rain I made the mistake of opening the door long enough for lots of them to come in here and pester the crap out of me. They will fly in your eyes, up your nose and in your ears and are just all around pesky little shits! I finally turned off the white light, left the bug light on and opened the door and that seemed to allow the outdoor solar lights to attract the ones I hadn't already killed back out side.
That big brown spot isn't dirt its bugs! (Thousands of them)
They also clog up the screen in the water catchment system and I need to take that loose again and clean it.



18 comments:

  1. We have pesky biting bugs hete in summer and they get everywhere too. My problem is I've developed an alleery to their bites - swell up and itch for weeks!

    Can someone please close pandora's box before summer gets here ;)

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  2. Dani, I think the infections I've had in both of my legs now have come from bug bites. I know a bee sting on my arm gave me a skin infection on that arm. I've never been allergic to bee stings before so don't know what has changed???

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  3. Replies
    1. TnT, I'd just as soon not see it around here.

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  4. They could feed a thousand frogs or toads or lizards. Do they just appear once a year or so at specific times, or are they around most any time?

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    1. DD I thought they had all left because the brown area was gone while ago. I was going to put ice in the top cooler and moved it from the bottom one and all the bugs were under it. I took a fly swatter and repeatedly pounded the mass of them and killed most I guess. Now I notice a blue tailed Skink working over time snatching up all of the ones that fell near by it. There's a desert toad that hangs out in front at night to take advantage of bugs drawn to the solar lights so I guess it will also have a feast tonight.

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    2. I guess they were good for something, feeding a few other creatures.

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    3. Yeah DD, but they are costing me water. Had to dump the dog water twice because there was a thick film of them floating on top both times.

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  5. Use a red bulb David......people might think your runnin' a bevy of whooooahs...but no bugs....Thanks be to God for the rain though...

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    1. Bernie, if I could find some red florescent curly-cue Bulbs that would be great. Reason I use those over LEDs is because I like real light and they are a lot more efficient than the incandescent bulbs. The outside solar lights are the cheap'o Harbor Freight path lights and if I can find some red film to put inside them to make them red I'd love it. The red is a lot better for night vision than the other colors.

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  6. I am with TnT...had never seen such a thing. Dang, that is not something I am looking forward to...but if it means being able to live in Terlingua...I will take it :-)

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    1. They might go good in a salad MsB. If the lizards and frogs will eat them why not us? Damn they're all gone and didn't think to try them.

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  7. Hi there!

    I'm new here, thought I'd say howdy. I'm from Houston and may be about to move out to the Trans-Pecos region. Don't like bugs, heck I'd a thought I'd a been leaving them behind here in good 'old H-town.

    I'll take it as a heads up. Thanks.

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  8. Greg, there aren't as many bugs here as in Houston. (I know because I used to live there), but we have our share and the damn tiny flying suckers were back with a vengeance again last night.

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  9. Sorry about your bug problem. Hope those suckers do not move over to the Cedar Springs area? I.E., we have enough problems with biting flies & mosquitoes - but normally only when it has rained. Best thing about the TERLINGUA RANCH is it does not rain very often (compared to Houston, Texas).

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    1. The best thing is also the worst thing...

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    2. There was a ten inch rain last night. (Drops fell ten inches apart) for about 5 minutes. I think it was the heavy dew that attracted them this morning. The coolers and lights were covered with them again. They are gone now though.

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  10. A famous poem about Big Bend & its bugs. Residents have had these problems for a long time - because it was designed that way!

    Cheers, Ron Mahan

    HELL IN TEXAS

    The devil, we're told, in hell was chained,
    And a thousand years he there remained,
    And he never complained, nor did he groan,
    But determined to start a hell of his own
    Where he could torment the souls of men
    Without being chained to a prison pen.

    So he asked the Lord if He had on hand
    Anything left when He made the land.
    The Lord said, "Yes, I had plenty on hand,
    But I left it down on the Rio Grande.
    The fact is old boy, the stuff is so poor,
    I don't think you could use it in hell any more."

    But the devil went down to look at the truck,
    And said if it came as a gift, he was stuck;
    For after examining it careful and well
    He concluded the place was too dry for hell.
    So in order to get it off His hands
    God promised the devil to water the lands.

    For he had some water, or rather some dregs,
    A regular cathartic that smelt like bad eggs.
    Hence the deal was closed and the deed was given,
    And the Lord went back to His place in Heaven.
    and the devil said, "I have all that is needed
    To make a good hell," and thus he succeeded.

    He began to put thorns on all the trees,
    And he mixed the sand with millions of fleas,
    He scattered tarantulas along all the roads,
    Put thorns on the cacti and horns on the toads;
    He lengthened the horns of the Texas steers
    And put an addition on jack rabbits' ears.

    He put little devils in the broncho steed
    And poisoned the feet of the centipede.
    The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings,
    The mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
    The sand burrs prevail, so do the ants,
    And those that sit down need half soles on their pants.

    The devil then said that throughout the land
    He'd manage to keep up the devil's own brand,
    And all would be mavericks unless they bore
    The marks of scratches and bites by the score.
    The heat in the summer is a hundred and ten,
    Too hot for the devil and too hot for men.

    The wild boar roams through the black chaparral,
    It's a hell of a place he has for a hell;
    The red pepper grows by the bank of the brook,
    The Mexicans use it in all that they cook.
    Just dine with a Mexican and then you will shout,
    "I've a hell on the inside as well as without."

    UNKNOWN






















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