PSA: Outdoors and your clothing

[Sandy Ground]

@Anniekay when you wrote the word "Marzy" my nind went directly to Roy Orbison saying "mercy!" I admit it, I'm old!

 

[Anniekay]

Then of course, there was the bee that fractured one of my fingers only a few yards from a hospital...

Now c'mon, do tell!! @Sandy Ground

As for my white faced hornet attack: I was mowing on the edge of a field that we had had logged. The mower backfired and choked off a couple of clouds of black smoke, then quit on me. I was not far from a big, thickly branched cedar tree that, unbeknownst to me, had a huge hornets nest in it and, when I got off the mower, something stung me in the neck. It felt like a hot nail had been shot into me.

I took off running for the house and on the way, was stung again, on the other side of my neck. Then I scared up and actually passed a rabbit on the way .
As I ascended he steps, yep, third sting. When I got inside, that dang hornet had followed me in !! By then he was pretty pooped, as was I but I got him !!

I called the AG Extension guy and sent him a photo of that hornet because I'd never seen one before. He said those white-faced hornets are the most agressive species we have in the area and I was lucky that this happened at a time other than dawn or dusk when the whole hive is home. Once I knew where they were, I stayed away but you could actually hear them humming at dusk from 100 yards away!!

 

[olly-buckle]

I remember helping stack straw bales on a wheat field at harvest. It was a full summer's day and the holiday makers in shorts and tee shirts who also helped looked askance at the farm worker. Solid boots, corduroy trousers tied at the bottom with string, a buttoned up tweed jacket and a cap. Everybody else got bitten badly.

 

[big rockpile]

I had a Tick bite me and put me in the Hospital.

Around here have to be vigilant. One day I was working on my Pickup. My wife told me to come to her on the Deck but walk around the Pickup. I get there she says look under the Pickup.

There was a Copperhead she said every time I would get close it would raise up to strike.

One time I was emptying the Wood Box and dropped a piece, no problem I will get it next load. Went to get the piece of wood there was a Copperhead right next to it.

One time I went to work on a Pickup. Crawled underneath it. There was a Timber Rattler laying in the Wheelwel foot from my face.

big rockpile

big rockpile

 

[Anniekay]

I had a Tick bite me and put me in the Hospital.

Around here have to be vigilant. One day I was working on my Pickup. My wife told me to come to her on the Deck but walk around the Pickup. I get there she says look under the Pickup.

There was a Copperhead she said every time I would get close it would raise up to strike.

One time I was emptying the Wood Box and dropped a piece, no problem I will get it next load. Went to get the piece of wood there was a Copperhead right next to it.

One time I went to work on a Pickup. Crawled underneath it. There was a Timber Rattler laying in the Wheelwel foot from my face.

big rockpile

big rockpile

I used to go to this beach in S. Florida where you had a boardwalk that was built over a wet area so you could cross to the beach. I sat down on it with my legs dangling over the water while waiting for my friends to show up, looked down into the water and something caught my eye. There was a big 'ol snake curled up around the post right by my right leg.

I'm really not afraid of snakes but I'm not stupid enough to stay there, so I slowly scooched over away from it, then got to my feet.

Another time I electrocuted a Copperhead that was poised in my bird feeder with his mouth open. All the birds knew he was there and were making a rucus. I'd chased him away twice previously so I got the fly electrocuting racket and laid it on him. I held it on until I smelled skin burning. When I took it off, that snake went straight up in the air, came down and took off so fast that he was a blurr !! That was the last time he ever came around !!

 

[big rockpile]

One time at the farm I went out the Door and there was a Copperhead. Cut its head off.

I'm cleaning around there,look and there is a Copperhead. ???? Now I know I cut your head off. There was two there they was hung together.

Another time I was going to the Outhouse, for some reason I took the Flashlight. Right there as you step out the Door was a Copperhead.

big rockpile

 

[Tetters]

I've seen and had close brushes with lots of snakes in Australia. Generally speaking, although many of them have deadly venom, they will attack people only when defending themselves surprisingly - not like the spiders and wasps there - those nasty sods will attack people just for the hell of it. A friend of mine who had a duck farm in the bush had a pet funnel web spider. I wasn't too sure about that.
Got bitten and hospitalised after redback bite, but the worst bite I got there was from a big fat millipede. My fingers went black, and blood pressure went right up to very dangerous, and the perishing thing wasn't antagonised. We worry more about tick bites really because they can be sneaky and unless you get antibiotics quickly can get Lyme disease
Hope you are feeling a bit better today Rockers!

 

[Anniekay]

When I was raising Guinea fowl I kept a few chickens to sit on the Guinea eggs. I came in the coop and right there, a couple feet from the door, was an oak snake lying in the straw. Only his head (which was as big as my fist,) and about a foot of his body, from the head back was showing, the rest of him was under the straw. All my chickens were at the far end of the coop being very quiet.

So, I got my big, heavy Jackson shovel and plunged it into his neck just behind his head. Well that snake turned out to be 68" long !! He pulled his body out of the straw and started beating me with it !!
Then here comes one of my hens running up to it, raised her feet just cussing at it and squawking away !! I told her: " Yeah, now you're all brave since I have it pinned to the ground !! "

That dang snake had three, 3!! of my baby guineas inside him !!

Another time I had a snake in the rafters of the chicken coop so I told my farmhand to go shoot it. Turned out he was deathly afraid of snakes and couldn't bring himself to enter the coop !! So, I shot it and killed it but shot a hole in the roof of the coop which my farmhand had to climb up and fix !!

 

[big rockpile]

Had Black Snake in my Chicken House. I was nice and moved it to the garden.

Next day he brought a friend they ate 3 of my Ducks. Can't have this so I killed them.

But lost more Chickens to a Homeless guy. He was stealing my Roosters while I was at work.

He had bought a Shed and Amish were to move it for him.

Sunday wanted me to get them to move it. He told me they probably got their Church stuff done.

I told him I wasn't going to do it.

big rockpile

 

[olly-buckle]

England is a nice place to live, we have three types of snakes, two harmless and adders, which are rare, very shy, and have a bite which is rarely fatal, mostly just uncomfortable.
We do get ticks, I had one once, dabbed it with carbon tet. cleaning fluid and it died and let go. Don't know what I would do now they have banned carbon tetrachloride.

 

[Tetters]

England is a nice place to live, we have three types of snakes, two harmless and adders, which are rare, very shy, and have a bite which is rarely fatal, mostly just uncomfortable.
We do get ticks, I had one once, dabbed it with carbon tet. cleaning fluid and it died and let go. Don't know what I would do now they have banned carbon tetrachloride.

We have a useful little tool that we bought to use on the dogs to remove the ticks - (you may need assistance if one gets you in a difficult spot!) What you need to watch out for is the bullet mark....
This needs immediate action with antibiotics.

 

[Anniekay]

We have a useful little tool that we bought to use on the dogs to remove the ticks - (you may need assistance if one gets you in a difficult spot!) What you need to watch out for is the bullet mark....
View attachment 2509 This needs immediate action with antibiotics.

What got me so sick with my tick bite is that I never got that red ring and my Doctor said that the red ring doesn't always appear.

My suggestion is, as soon as you feel tired of a morning where you slept good all night, Check for a Tick bite !!

 

[olly-buckle]

My suggestion is, as soon as you feel tired of a morning where you slept good all night, Check for a Tick bite !!

Hmm, I might have to check every morning, Though it seems unlikely with hard frost on the ground for the second day running.

 

[Sheal]

I picked up ticks regularly in my last garden - being rural. One year I picked up 17 but never had any inflammation. I learnt to tuck my jeans into socks and wear old ankle boots when working in the garden. I'd also brush myself down completely with a strong bristled brush before going inside. It helped a lot but didn't always stop them.
These are what I used to extract them. Getting the prongs behind the body and pulling slowly.