hot wasabi peas

That's a different snapper pic!

Thanks for adding to my mental horror Iain!

iaink

Well, yeah, there is more than one of those beasts running around Ontario She was a good size for sure, at least a couple of feet across.


The stick insect was a good six inches plus too.

woz718

We lived just outside of Med Hat for a few years and came across black widows in our basement! Not too pleasant, but they left us alone and killed all the ants and mozzies. You get the old rattle snakes out on the Prairie as well but not, I expect, too many in the cities.

regards

Wozzie

Perry Groves

Black widows?I hope none of those spiders which live under toilet seats?

sarsteve

Folks,

all things considered, we have very civilized bugs. None that can kill. The info given from that ONE small section of Alberta is just that, from one small section of AB.

Mosquitoes and black flies are all you need worry about. And the whole myth about camel spiders is just that, a myth. Did two tours in different spots in the Middle East. They are ugly, they are fast, and they can be big (4" maybe). But they aren't venomous. Nor do they bite...unless one is in your boot and you don't shake him out first.

How many are killed by bears or cougars each year? One, maybe two? As far as wildlife goes, pretty darned safe. We were looking at moving to Oz several years ago and I had to warn the family not to touch anything. Cripes, they even have antipodean oysters that attack!

oceanMDX

Here's the giant water bug - which can fly.

They can grow up to 12 cm. long in some parts of the world!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_water_bug

If you happen to get a hold of a live one, either by catching it in a net or finding one that has left the water and is on land, be VERY CAREFUL to keep your fingers away from its piercing mouth part or "beak" as it can inflict a very painful bite. It's mouth is actually not so much a "beak" as it is a sort of syringe -- like a mosquito, but larger and nastier. This is so it can suck the juices out of its prey.

http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/nat...q/waterbug.htm

They can be so big that, "Many Giant Water Bugs are kept in zoos, where they are fed crickets."

http://www.eduwebs.org/bugs/giant_water_bug.htm

The damned thing is so big it has biceps!

minihaha

"Mosquitoes and black flies are all you need worry about. And the whole myth about camel spiders is just that, a myth. Did two tours in different spots in the Middle East. They are ugly, they are fast, and they can be big (4" maybe). But they aren't venomous. Nor do they bite...unless one is in your boot and you don't shake him out first."


Thank's for putting my mind at rest that it realy is just a myth , I will defo sleep better at night now knowing that, the big girls blouse that I am.

Mrs Mini

sarsteve

Before I hit the Sinai in '86, we heard every story under the sun. All of them bull.

Take a look here http://www.camelspiders.net/ and you'll find all the info you need. The spiders in the deep south of AB, SK and BC(and only in the tiny desert parts) are much smaller than those found in the Middle East. It makes for a great story, but amounts to nowt.

They are good BBQ'd though.