# I HATE Palmetto Bugs!



## Elf Mommy (Jul 9, 2009)

I was woken up at 2 AM when one of these darn things was crawling across my shoulder. 







This is the American Cockroach. Found in the south from about South Carolina all the way down to good old sunny Florida. For a size indicator, someone posted this:





The one crawling on me was probably only an inch and a half, but it gives you some idea. 

I felt it, woke up and did a frenetic swish of my hand across my shoulder about 5 times, hurling the bug off of me. I sleep about 4 feet from the window, so it probably hit the curtain. I didn't swat it, I swept it off my shoulder. So the thing is still alive!!!

Here's the deal. These things FLY! Note the wings...






So I'm lying there in bed, now fully awake, panting. Listening for this critter, who I can hear buzzing about the room. I'm under the covers, sweating and totally awake. I hear it fly right over head so I put my face under the covers, too. Still....wide awake. I can't help but listen. 

I know you're saying, "Just turn on the light and kill the thing, Minda." Yeah...well, normally that's what I do (although it's normally me screaming, turning on the light and running out of the room so hubby can do it). However, hubby has been placed on a heart monitor for 24 hours (he's been feeling some skipped beats), so I was trying soooooo hard not to wake the man up!!! 

These things are scary, ok? It's the only thing that freaks me out this badly. They actually fly and run TOWARD you, because you're tall and they think you're a tree and safety! The DO bite (only when frightened, but I'm pretty sure I'm scaring the crap out of it if I'm flailing around when it lands on me)!

So....here I am. Up since 2 AM. I'll have to take a nap later, after I find the bugger and squish it!

sigh...All this wet weather makes them scurry inside.


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## Gordon (Jul 9, 2009)

Yeah, those are not nice. We have May-flies swarming here right now. They like to fly in your mouth! :shock:


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## Flashy (Jul 9, 2009)

Ew. I can understand your reluctance to sleep. Could you maybe creep quietly out the room and sleep on your sofa? Maybe closing the door on your hubby and bug friend?


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## Elf Mommy (Jul 9, 2009)

I'm in the living room now...I just can't stand the thought of them creeping around!!! ew ugh uck!


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## PepnFluff (Jul 9, 2009)

Ewwwmegawd. I wouldn't be able to hold back the screams! I can't even think about sleeping when theres a fly in my room, let alone something like that! My dreams of moving to America are quashednow I know things like that exist! I feel your pain! Maybe wear like a all in one including mesh head peice to bed tonight.


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## Flashy (Jul 9, 2009)

Oh if you do that PLEASE take pictures


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## hartleybun (Jul 9, 2009)

and i thought daughter and i had enough problems with the mosquitoes....:X


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## slavetoabunny (Jul 9, 2009)

We had those nasty things when we lived in Samoa. They were so big down there that you could put a saddle on them and go for a ride. One time I woke up in the middle of the night and one was sitting on my pillow staring at me. Eeeeeew!


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## JadeIcing (Jul 9, 2009)

Reminds me of the roaches in P.R.


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## Saudade (Jul 9, 2009)

Growing up in Australia those things don't really bother me, considering we fight off things much much scarier than that.

I'll post one of them a little later.


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## hartleybun (Jul 9, 2009)

*Saudade wrote: *


> Growing up in Australia those things don't really bother me, considering we fight off things much much scarier than that.
> 
> I'll post one of them a little later.


it's going to be furry with lots of legs isnt it:cry2:nerves1h34r2


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## kherrmann3 (Jul 9, 2009)

*slavetoabunny wrote: *


> One time I woke up in the middle of the night and one was sitting on my pillow staring at me. Eeeeeew!


Sounds like you had a stalker-bug that just liked to watch you sleep. 

Luckily, the biggest bugs that we get here are June Bugs and Cicadas. Neither get into houses.  We do, however, get lots of centipedes (you know, the ones with all the twitchy legs?). I hate those buggers.

Sorry to hear that your night was shot, Minda. Evil buggies...


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## paul2641 (Jul 9, 2009)

Thankfully the worst we get here is flies, I'm not really afraid of bugs though, I remember when I was younger having a bug collection! But Yeah they are big!


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## BethM (Jul 9, 2009)

When I lived in Guam, we had those giant roaches! 

Do you have many geckos around there? When I first moved to Guam, geckos in the house weirded me out. Especially when they'd just randomly run up the living room wall! Then I realized they ate the giant roaches, and I welcomed the geckos with open arms!


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## Brandy456 (Jul 9, 2009)

Ewww. Thats horrible. 
Did you kill it yet ? 

Yeah, biggest things we get here are june bugs and moths.


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## Bo B Bunny (Jul 9, 2009)

I don't like the tiny cockroaches we have in the midwest...... don't know if I could deal with your bigger ones..... but I have played with madagascar hissing cockroaches many times.... LOL!


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## Brandy456 (Jul 9, 2009)

Isn't it funny how, most people are (lets say..) 5'5 and 130 pounds but we're all scared of things the size of our big toe. =)
had to point it out.


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## Elf Mommy (Jul 9, 2009)

OK, I took Flashy's advice and slept on the couch. Woke up when hubby got up (sun up, bright rooms) and he sent me to bed so I could get some real sleep. My back hurts and I dreamed of killer bears nosing at me (I'm sure that must have been Kirby wondering what the heck I was doing on the couch).


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## Brandy456 (Jul 9, 2009)

Haha, nice dream.


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## SnowyShiloh (Jul 9, 2009)

Unngh. I've woken up to bugs on me too. In Alaska, these hideous beetles come out for a couple weeks early each summer: http://www.birdmom.net/Wildlife/BeetleRedSpot%20(WinCE).jpg They have really long antennae and fly around landing on everyone. Ew. When we lived in Texas, every spring junebugs would come out en masse. I remember having to use an umbrella because there were so many of them and they fell out of the sky like rain! Then one morning we'd wake up and everything would be covered with junebugs because they all died during the night.


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## Luvmyzoocrew (Jul 9, 2009)

oh god i am all itchy now thanks,lol. i hate bugs and am a total girl when they are around,lol. cockroaches are oh god the worst, i can only kill bugs from clear cross the room while throwing a shoe or something at it, all the while screaming lol.


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## SilverBirchRabbitry (Jul 9, 2009)

Eww I hate bugs in general, Lady Bugs are what creep me out the most though blah. And Caterpillars =[. 

I have never actually seen a cockroach in real live though. I hope to keep it that way though lol


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Jul 9, 2009)

Ughhh! I got the shivers just reading your post, Minda! I would freak out too if I had one of those crawling on me!!! 

I had a dream last night about ants in my bedroom, and just that freaked me out! lol. 

I hope you find it soon and squash it!! 

Emily


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## mouse_chalk (Jul 9, 2009)

BLEEEEEUUUUGH! :shock:

I had to read this thread covering my eyes from the pictures! Me and bugs do not agree!

Minda, I wouldn't have been able to keep quiet about something like that- the whole neighbourhood would have likely known about it lol!

I was sat on the sofa on Tuesday when an earwig crawled past me. Now, I have a total phobia of earwigs, so I jumped up, freaked out and somehow managed to throw it outside. Then I sat back down, but after a few minutes I remembered I'd just got the washing in off the line in the rain and dumped it on the back of the sofa. I also remembered that a few days previously I'd seen an earwig on a top on the washing line, and left it out there in a panic. Cue me again jumping about 4 foot in the air, grabbing the washing and hurling it into the hallway shouting 'NOOOO!' I spent the rest of the afternoon itching all over!:grumpy:


I hope you manage to get better sleep undisturbed tonight, Minda!


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## slavetoabunny (Jul 9, 2009)

*BethM wrote: *


> When I lived in Guam, we had those giant roaches!
> 
> Do you have many geckos around there? When I first moved to Guam, geckos in the house weirded me out. Especially when they'd just randomly run up the living room wall! Then I realized they ate the giant roaches, and I welcomed the geckos with open arms!


We had lots of geckos in Samoa. We have them here in Florida, but nothing like in Samoa. There were lots of them in the house. I loved the little babies.


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## BSAR (Jul 10, 2009)

Ugghhh! *shudder* 
Thats gross. I wouldn't be able to sleep either if those were crawling on me!
Find it fast!! yuckkkk!


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## maherwoman (Jul 10, 2009)

LOL...reminds me of the time I woke up in the middle of the night, realizing that a HUGE moth had nestled up in the area around one of my eyes...actually ON my closed eyelid!! The thing had to have been at least an inch in length...one of the really BIG ones. Boy, that was something...scared the crap out of me...and we never did find it, either! Don't know where it came from, the cats won't kill moths (they're bitter, and they won't even catch, much less EAT them), and we never saw it again, lol!!

*shivers in memory of the eye-nestling moth*


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## DeniseJP (Jul 10, 2009)

Hope you get some sleep...

Denise


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## kherrmann3 (Jul 10, 2009)

I hope you got some sleep and caught the offending buggy, Minda! 

I had a close-encounter of the fluffy kind once. It wasn't a bug, but still scared me. Will was in visiting from out of town once (we lived in different states for awhile), and he was sleeping up in my bedroom with me. One of my dwarf hamsters had gotten out the day before and I hadn't been able to find him. Normally, I wait for night and listen for the stray hamster to scuffle around, but I hadn't heard him earlier that night. So, Will and I were sleeping, but at about 3:00AM, I felt something fluffy crawling in my shirt (up my back). My eyes shot open, then told Will, "Turn on the light!" Will was still sleepy, so his answer was, "*mumble mumble* Huh?" After awhile, he managed to turn the light on and my hamster was back in my possession, but it's still creepy to have something fluffy crawling around in your bed while you're sleeping in it!


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## MyLOVEABLES!! (Jul 10, 2009)

I think im about to faint just thinking about cockroaches and that thing. I'm shivering right now as i type this lol.

If i see a cockroach normally i will get freaked out for at least 1/2hr those "things" bug me... 

I understand your pain Minda... Though you're awesome since you didn't scream... I would have screamed my head of.

Good job on closing your hub and the bug inside the room lol


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## Maureen Las (Jul 10, 2009)

Now I will gross every one out big time..

When I was a nurse in Chicago in the 80's and lived in an apartment 
one AM toI was up getting ready to go to workand made some instant coffee , put coffee in cup and then poured boiling water over it and left it a bit to do my make-up etc etc. 

Came back, picked up and took one big drink of coffee and felt something on my tongue and then 
spit out a big cockroach in the sink .......................ullhair::vomit:


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## Elf Mommy (Jul 11, 2009)

*MyLOVEABLES!! wrote: *


> Good job on closing your hub and the bug inside the room lol


I had to laugh out loud at this! That's one of the first things he said to me when he got home that night..."and you left ME in the room with the bug!"

He said I should have woken him up. The heart monitor is supposed to show everything normal, and I guess me waking him up because of a bug is just normal stuff.


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## mouse_chalk (Jul 12, 2009)

*angieluv wrote: *


> Now I will gross every one out big time..
> 
> When I was a nurse in Chicago in the 80's and lived in an apartment
> one AM toI was up getting ready to go to workand made some instant coffee , put coffee in cup and then poured boiling water over it and left it a bit to do my make-up etc etc.
> ...


*shudders*

I don't think I would EVER get over that if it were me!:shock::shock::shock:


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