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Thursday, August 19, 2010

One of those evil females....

While working in the garden the other evening I heard a bumble bee buzz by my head. I didn't think much about it and continued picking veggies.
Then I heard a loud buzzing noise and followed the sound to find this......

























If you're wondering... yes I did interfere.

The scene reminded me of an old Sci-fi movie where people were being wrapped like mummies by giant spiders.. :)

I grabbed a stick, freed the bumble bee, set him aside as I tried to chase down the black widow. She got away and the bumble bee was gone when I returned...
I have a feeling I'll meet her again. :)

I have no idea if the bumble bee had already been bitten... also wonder if a bird swooped down and picked him up while my back was turned.. lol

18 comments:

Mrs. JP said...

Those are some wicked so and so's. We had one that thought she'd take up residence in our gas tank gauge one year and she got a face full of spray. I just didn't need poor gas deliverer guy to get his hand bit way out here where we live.
Good for you.

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

Good shots of the black widow Jeanie. I found a spider in my garage last summer while I was building that looked alot like a black widow, but it did'nt have the red hour glass on it. It had me wondering though. Do you see alot of those around there?

cowgirl said...

Shoot Mrs JP, glad you found that one before someone was bitten! They can do so much damage...
I need to keep a can of bug spray in a pouch on a belt..whip it out like a pistol. :)
Thanks!

cowgirl said...

Hey Mark, good to see ya. Hope the building and job are going well. :)
There are a lot of black widows around here, more in the last 2 years than in previous ones though.
I've got plenty of brown recluse too..
Oh yeah.. and the tarantulas. Still going to box one up and send it to ya. lol
Wonder what kind of spider you had.... If you figure it out, let me know!

Thanks Mark..

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Snakes, bumblebee's and deadly spiders...you obviously live on the edge! I shuddered just looking!!

cowgirl said...

lol Apple Pie Gal, it's not really too bad if you know they're around..ya just learn to watch for them.
Thanks! :)

Rothe Homestead Farm said...

Unwanted 'guests' are just that....heard that somewhere before (lol). Auto parts stores sell 'brake kleen' & 'carb kleen'.
After being hauled off to the ER for a sting....I "never leave home without" one or the other!!!
A lighter just adds to the excitement.... for me anyways! :)
BTW...found out that the bumble bees are responsable for eatin away at the rafters in one of my barns.
Yup, you guessed it....they're on my hit list now too!


Gene

Rocco said...

Rothe homestead is right, brake klen is the best bug killer there is, it shoots a stream 25 feet and just the fumes will drop any flying thing it come close to.

cowgirl said...

Shoot Gene, are you allergic? That's kinda scary.
Thanks for the tip about the brake kleen and carb kleen, I'll pick some up. Yeah... a lighter would be interesting. lol
I also didn't know that bumble bees would eat wood too.. Thanks for the info! I'll check my outbuildings.
Sure glad you stopped by, I learned a lot from you! lol :)

Thanks!

cowgirl said...

Rocco, Thanks for the info! I'm going to pick up some of that.. sounds handy to have around.

Bushman said...

I must admit my first response would have been squashing them both. I don't know if bumblebees eat the wood but they do bore holes in it, perhaps for laying eggs or nests or something. Look for perfect little circle holes about the size of a dime or slightly a smaller.

tjus77 said...

Went to retrieve my garbage cans last Sat and was on the cell phone and ALMOST didn't see a black widow disappear into the hand hold at the bottom of the can. Don't know how I didn't get hit the first time when I got the can out of the truck that morning (guess she wasn't awake either).

My brother was laughing at me trying to kill the little witch with one hand while talking to him on the phone.... maybe I still wasn't awake... lol

cowgirl said...

Bushman, I probably should have just squished them. I didn't know about the hole boring.. Thanks!

cowgirl said...

Dang it TJ, that was a close call. Glad to hear it didn't get ya! I imagine you were pretty entertaining while trying to swat that thing and talk on the phone at the same time. lol

Hope you have a great weekend. :)

Ardy Reed said...

OMG! That's freaky!

Chris said...

Little known fact: The heroine in the story Charlotte's Web was a black widow.

Ok, just kidding but it sounded good. If the bee did survive, none of his friends believe the story he is telling them about what happened:)

cowgirl said...

Thanks Ardy.. I still haven't ran across her, but her web is still there!

cowgirl said...

Hahaha... probably true Chris. Thanks! :)