The Vermin Inspire a Personal Record

 Never in my life (I'm pretty sure) have I deep-cleaned a room twice in one year. However, the mice led me to a complete room cleaning and re-do in February, and the whatever-they-are have caused the cleaning to happen again, just 7 months later. Here is my sports equipment. (Well, OK, not the toaster.)

I took the suggestions of a couple of people and added a spacer between the two layers of mattress and box spring in the car to better distribute the heat. Today there were about 6 hours over 120 degrees inside. I'm hoping those little buggers (literally) baked to death.

I cleaned the whole room, and sprayed with a product made to fight bedbugs (I still don't think that's what I have, but this also kills ticks, fleas, and mites- basically arachnids), and it's stronger than most products. It's only been in the last few years you could buy a home product strong enough to kill bedbugs.

Then I put it all back together again.

If it is some kind of small spider, spiders really don't like peppermint. So there are now cotton balls with peppermint oil in the corners of the room, and it smells like a candy shop. I hope it doesn't drive me out as well as the spiders. Strong odors bother me too.

This was a total shotgun approach, so if there are no more bugs, I won't know what kind they were. But I wasn't going to try one thing, then another, and keep tearing the room apart between each attempt to identify them.

One piece of good news is that I could get the spray and the oil in Scottville, so I didn't have to drive anywhere. I couldn't! To get the bed parts in the car I had to move the seats as far forward as they will go. That made it tight for even shorty me to drive. Thus, another 3-mile walk.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be selling books at the Scottville Fall Festival.

Miles walked in 2024: 431.7

See The Project - Done See There are No Bugs on Me

There Are No Bugs On Me (I Hope)

 What am I up to now?

Well, when I came home in August, I learned that there was some sort of biting nuisance that had taken up residence in my bed. It does not seem to be bedbugs, although I can't rule that out completely. We (Marie and I have been trying to puzzle it out by phone) thought maybe the mites that affect bees were the problem since I have about 100 new dead bees in the house every day, but apparently that kind of mite doesn't bite humans. I have eliminated about all the logical choices except some kind of mite.

Spray that kills arachnids (ticks, lice, mites) did not get rid of them.

Spray that is supposed to kill ants reduced the population to something less awful, but I'm sure if there were ants in my bed I'd see them.

I was thinking I'd freeze all the bed parts this winter, but if it's bedbugs, they have to be below zero degrees F for four days. Unlikely.

However, any of the bedding-type pests can be cooked at 120 degrees.

Meet my new large oven.

With the temperatures hitting the high 80s today, I thought I'd give a closed car a try. It was over 125 degrees for 8 hours. I'm leaving everything in there one more day for another 6-8 hours of cooking tomorrow.

I washed all the bedding, pjs, etc in 140 degree water. I sprayed the room really well, and will clean it all thoroughly tomorrow after the smell subsides a bit.

Hopefully this will work. I'm really tired of waking up with a whole new set of bites (mosly in unpleasant places).

In other news: I walked to the post office. Didn't accomplish much on my usual projects.

Miles walked in 2024: 428.7 miles

See Bees

Jumping Spider 3

  Now that I know that 13% of ALL spiders are jumping spiders, and they all have the same basic shape, I am seeing them everywhere. Here's another handsome one. I have an ID request in with Bugguide. But there are over 6000 species of jumping spiders. One of them is (I kid you not) the Two-striped Jumping Spider. Is it possible?

Anyway, they are characterized by a large head and having their four front legs larger than the back four. This is also true of crab spiders and lynx spiders, but crab spiders have very long front legs that remind you of a crab, and lynx spiders have spines on their legs. So, I'm sticking with jumping spider. We'll see if I'm right when Bugguide weighs in.

The primary way to tell them is by the arrangement of the eyes, but I didn't get face to face with this one, so I don't know.

In other news: I edited, and I wrote a chapter in my own book. I found the striping tape for the trailer, but it has to be below 65 degrees to apply it. What the....? If it's not wet, maybe first thing in the morning. I also did a little bit of cleaning. It was a nice calm day. I also bruised a toe kinda bad yesterday. I don't think it's broken, but it could feel better. I'm sure it will in a few days.

See Jumping Spider 3

Jumping Spider 2

 
Here's another visitor to my bedroom. I decided to gently move him/her elsewhere. It's a different kind of jumping spider, although it's hard to be sure which one. It's possibly Hentzia mitrada, but I'm not sticking my neck out with a definite ID. I know this picture isn't focused very well. Sorry.



This time, however, I almost got a decent picture of its face.



And a little closer. It's almost cute.



In other news: the vendor event today was pretty good. I didn't do nearly as well as last year, but it was worth it. However, I'm pooped. I thought about taking a walk when it was over, but it was starting to rain. And that was turning to ice just as I got home, so I'm glad I just drove home.

	See Bold Jumping Spider
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Halloween - Part 3

 
Today I bring you the fearsome Bold Jumping Spider, Phidippus audax. It's fearsome only if you are s mite or some other very small bug. They can bite, but don't bother humans unless injured or otherwise terrorized. I think this is a female, but I'm open to correction. She was kind enough to pose on a piece of purple plastic for the holiday.

There are over 6000 species (60 in this one genus) of jumping spiders, so named because they can jump 10-50 times their body length. They make silk but don't create webs. They hunt by, um... jumping on their prey. 13% of all spiders are jumpers.



They actually have rather endearing faces with large middle eyes and colorful mouthparts. But I don't think I'd be able to get a picture of any of that without killing the spider. Since she's unlikely to bother me, I won't bother her.

How they jump is rather interesting. Rather than having muscular legs like a grasshopper, they can increase the blood pressure in their hind legs and then suddenly release it propelling themselves forward. When they do so, they spin a silk dragline so they can always return to where they jumped from!

Because of their large eyes, they can see better than many spiders.

Sometimes their spots are orange.

In other news: I wrote in the morning, and formatted in the afternoon. My brain is fried, but I think I have made a choice of software for the formatting. Right now I'm happiest with Word Perfect. Keep in mind that I'm not using the latest versions of either Word or WP. But I believe I've got a clean PDF of chapter 1. When I get one more added I'll get approval from the printer before I go any farther.

	See Another Halloween-ish Horror
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But Is It Charlotte?

 
Just in time for Halloween, this lovely was crawling around the floor at work. Focus not so great. ID not so certain. Charlotte was a barn spider, Araneus cavaticus. The hairy striped legs look right. But it might be a garden orb spider, Araneus diadematus. That pattern on the body doesn't look quite right for either one.

At any rate, boo!



In other news, the kitchen is clean, including washing the very dirty and sticky floor!

I fooled around and tried some things and have a method figured out that really does take that paint residue off the trailer without too much trouble! That's a huge development. I'd tried several things and hadn't been satisfied with any of them.

I think it will be bed and a book very soon. The Thursday-Friday work marathon is about to begin.

	See Small Brown Friends
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Yikes! In December?

 
This is one of the few risks of playing outdoors a lot. However, it's pretty unexpected in December.

I just pulled a fully embedded female deer tick off my back. I'm not TOO worried, but needless to say, I'll be watching that area.



Uh, with a mirror. I can't really see my back.

Have to wonder where I picked it up. The only grass I've really been in is my own backyard. I keep my shirts tucked in, and although it's warm, it's not so warm that I've had exposed skin other than hands and face. If it got in a pant leg, it had a long journey which was undetected, and I usually feel them crawling around.

The only other deer tick I've encountered (on me) was in Minnesota. That story led nowhere. Thankfully.

I think I might have had a mild case of Lyme after our first North Dakota hike in 1995. The tests came back negative, but they are/were notoriously unreliable. I had flu-like symptoms and lots of aches for several months. Of course the doctor attributed it to middle-aged female hypochodriasis. You see how much I like doctors...

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Shoal Creek Nature Preserve

 
We found the most wonderful small nature preserve today. It's just north of Florence, Alabama. About 300 acres and 5 miles of hiking trails, and a 2-mile horse trail.

There are several creeks through the tract. I think this one is Lawson Creek. We crossed the bridge and did the Lawson Trail loop.



Sunlight on running water sure is a welcome sight!



We immediately began seeing wildflowers. There are too many pictures today, and I won't even show you all of them. Here is Rue Anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides, a sweet little spring gem that is also found in the north.



I wanted to take a picture of the back of this leaf (no ID yet), and look what I found when I looked at the photo on the computer! A cute little green spider. No ID on him either.



Of course, it seems like every natural place has to have it's own invasive species. This is a new one to me, but it was easy to find. It's a vine, with some early leaves that look like oak leaves, but the terminal leaves won't have the lobes. Well, I suspected it was a honeysuckle, and it is. Lonicera japonica, Japanese honeysuckle, is already banned in some states, and labeled noxious in others. It's virtually impossible to control once established, and crowds out native plants. Sigh.



Here comes the best find! I have added a new flower to my life list. This is Sweet-Betsy Trillium, also known as Large Toadshade, Trillium cuneatum. I kept looking for one that was all the way open, but now that I've studied the flower book, I think it's at its prime when the petals are still erect, and the open one is "over the hill." Either way, it's gorgeous. [species and upright habit confirmed with a real botanist]



I think it doesn't always have mottled leaves, either, but we saw everything from almost all dark green, to ones like this with almost no dark green.



I couldn't resist a closeup of the velvety stamens.



And when we were almost back at the start, a lovely female tiger swallowtail butterfly decided to dance around us, and she even let us take her picture.

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Small Brown Friends

Ellen and I sure picked the good day to play last week. It has rained all this week. A low pressure is parked over Michigan, and we are WET. With some help from BugGuide.net, I can tell you what these small creatures are.

OK, we'll do the one some of you may not like so much first. This is an unidentified species of Wolf Spider in the genus Arctosa. This one was scrambling around on the Lake Michigan beach.



I was surprised that Bug Guide IDed it as a wolf spider, because I thought they were darker, with stripes, and some are. It's just that this is a different one. Clearly, I need to learn more about what makes a wolf spider: hairy, 8 eyes in a particular arrangement, long legs, note the shape of the cephalothorax and abdomen.

Wolf spiders can bite, but they usually won't unless they are provoked. Bites can be painful, but usually not serious unless someone is allergic.

Next up is someone much more cute. As I'm sure you will also recognize, this looks like a black lady bug, or lady beetle.



Well, it turns out that is basically correct. The real surprise is that this is a Fifteen-spotted Lady Beetle, Anatis labiculata. So, where are the spots, you ask? Unlike humans, who gain spots as they age, this beetle loses its spots. When they are young, they are gray with dark spots. This one is really old, with a solid purple-black case. Aren't the legs cute?

Now I'm just going to have to look for a young one!