A Spider Just Got Cooked

[Wood Doctor]

How on earth does a spider manage to live when it's below zero outside?

I brought in some split mulberry that had been seasoning for nearly a year in the pile, over 60 feet from the house. I dried it out next to the stove a few hours so that the light snow was gone. As I prepared to load a couple of dandy logs in, a brown spider crawled out of a notch in the log. Luckily, LOML was upstairs at the time, so no shrieks.

I cooked the little beastie, but I had to admire his/her desire to live through the winter. Anybody else roasted any spiders lately? :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Jon E]

No, but I split open a chunk of semi-rotten maple a month or so ago, and the heart was riddled with ant tunnels and filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of carpenter ants - all 'sleeping' until spring.

I cooked 'em. I HATE carpenter ants. I hope they all woke up right before they baked.

 

[olyman]

No, but I split open a chunk of semi-rotten maple a month or so ago, and the heart was riddled with ant tunnels and filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of carpenter ants - all 'sleeping' until spring.

I cooked 'em. I HATE carpenter ants. I hope they all woke up right before they baked.

ever listen after you throw one of those in the furnace---sounds like popcorn!!!!!!!!

 

[MishMouse]

For me I like it when one of the Asian beetles goes for the light and lands on the 500+ stove door glass.

Though the other day after putting the stove in AB and shutting off the light, I did see something that looked like sparks coming from the flue collar above the AB chamber. Turned on the light and on the ground was this nasty looking bug about 3 inches long with some of its legs smoldering, didn't know what type of bug it was, because I didn't ask.
But, me being kind to all creatures grabbed it with the shovel that I was just using to clean out the ashes and threw the bugger into the stove, had to put it out of is misery. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Sawmill]

I got into my truck the other day and was going down the road when something started flying around the wind shield. It was a skeeter, I don't know if this was a new hybrid that could live all year or a sigh that warmer weather was coming, but this one is dead now. We have not had a day that was above 10 degrees in a couple of months.

 

[Wood Doctor]

No, but I split open a chunk of semi-rotten maple a month or so ago, and the heart was riddled with ant tunnels and filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of carpenter ants - all 'sleeping' until spring.

I cooked 'em. I HATE carpenter ants. I hope they all woke up right before they baked.

Murphys Law: You finally cut down that big old oak tree that's been dying for five years, only to discover that a million carpenter ants hollowed it out 50 feet up and left practically nothing but punk for the stove.

 

[Jredsjeep]

the spider sounds like my ex wife

havent had anything crawl out of the wood lately though.

 

[woodbooga]

I cooked the little beastie... :biggrinbounce2:

I might be superstitious, but I think that means it's going to rain/snow for the next 2 days. Or is that only if you squish a spider? Don't know what kind of reprisal there is for involuntary inflagration. (I've always wanted to use this smiley. Thanks!)

 

[K7NUT]

I cooked 'em. I HATE carpenter ants. I hope they all woke up right before they baked.

Cruel, how cruel! But I do the same thing. I think of it as a HUGE victory to find a nest in the log and get it into the fire pit in the yard and throw gas on it and light it, or if I have the stove going in the shop, I stuff it in and turn on the turbo fan! In all reality, one small nest, a tear drop in the ocean compared to the shear volume of ants , spiders and termits there are out there, but I still feel victorious! One for the stupid humans!:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[cityevader]

Spiders can live a long time without eating. I used to have a pet tarantula, and man did he really go after crickets after a couple months without getting fed. They can live over a year without eating. Don't know if bigger=longer times between feedings.

 

[Mntn Man]

Everytime I bring in new wood, there are thousands of tiny spiders that wake up and spin flier webs on day 2. One day I unloaded the trailer before the sun came up in 20 degree weather, I went in for breakfast and came out right at sun-up and the little buggers had already covered what I had just thrown on the ground. I don't know what kind they are, but there are a lot of 'em.

 

[mga]

Spiders can live a long time without eating. I used to have a pet tarantula, and man did he really go after crickets after a couple months without getting fed. They can live over a year without eating. Don't know if bigger=longer times between feedings.

heh...i had one too. crickets was his favorite food....especially when he tried to grab several at a time. those fangs looked like they could do some hurting!

did yours shed his skin once a year?

 

[strongback]

Not all that cold here but we have had a few yellow jackets that were hibernating in the wood pile wake up once inside the house. They appeared to be dead when I saw them outside so I didn't think anything of it. My wife has gotten adept at using the vaccum to dispatch little crawling and flying things that sneak in on the wood.

 

[wdchuck]

It's just one of those things you learn to take in stride when you bring wood in to heat the house. If you don't, it might drive ya nuts.
Besides, that mouse that moves in for the winter needs to eat too ya know.

 

[Wood Doctor]

It's just one of those things you learn to take in stride when you bring wood in to heat the house. If you don't, it might drive ya nuts.
Besides, that mouse that moves in for the winter needs to eat too ya know.

Yeah, but Lady, my flat-coated retriever, has wiped out every mouse within 50' of the house:

Anybody know what a mouse or rat looks like? I forgot.

 

[cityevader]

heh...i had one too.
did yours shed his skin once a year?

Sheds depending on growth..when well fed and growing out of it's skin, it was maybe 3 months. If not, a year maybe.

Not all that cold here but we have had a few yellow jackets that were hibernating in the wood pile wake up once inside the house.

I think that beats the scorpions I occassionaly carry in unknowingly....but I say that because I've been stung a great many times by yellow jackets and never yet by a scorpion. Hoping the bee sting feel better.

Yeah, but Lady, my flat-coated retriever, has wiped out every mouse within 50' of the house:

Anybody know what a mouse or rat looks like? I forgot.

Will you rent out that dog of yours? If it could take care of our mice AND wife's cat I'd be a happy camper!

 

[woodbooga]

Anybody know what a mouse or rat looks like? I forgot.

MOUSE

RAT

 

[beerman6]

lol...

 

[acer saccharum]

On more than one occasion I have looked into my freshly loaded insert and seen a spider running around a soon to be engulfed piece of wood in a futile effort to get away from the heat/flame.

Show of hands, who used to burn ants with a magnifying glass in their younger days?

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Hopefully they aren't 'barking spiders' that you are putting in the stove...

They tend to blow up when exposed to flames.

HA! I kill me.

:jester: