here are the day's big events:
- God blessed me with being able to be in various friend's houses with AC - random, i know, but very wonderful this time of year if you have swamp...
- i played with a super cute 2 year old and i haven't got to be around kids this age 1-on-1 in a long while
- a cute houseplant now graces my desk's presence
- i dyed my hair (half of it)
- i had dinner with most of the Senecans! which is miraculous these days as they've on vacation, out of town, house sitting...and the like...
- i went on a bike ride at sunset - GORGEOUS
- took a dog walking with Emily b to Cori's house, who wasn't actually there
i had just got back from my bike ride and the door was kinda open. i often leave the storm door closed, but the main door open so the air can come in. the cats started acting weird and looking under the couch and i thought, "Oh maybe there's another Palo verde beetle like the one they dragged into my room (yes, very gross)"
then a few minutes later i hear one of the cats who can't really meow making weird noises, which she only does if she's chasing something. So I go out into the living room and I see her standing on the edge of the couch attempting to attack this...
and yes, it was that big... It's wings were closed and it was crawling up the blinds with my cats jumping after it. AHHHHH. So I get the broom and usher the fella outside. THANK YOU GOD that it did not fly around.
Then i look it up to figure out what it was and i find this...
"The tarantula hawk is a species of spider wasp which hunts tarantulas as food for its larvae. Up to two inches (50 mm) long with a blue-black body and bright rust-colored wings, tarantula hawks are among the largest of wasps. The coloring on their wings warns potential predators that they are dangerous. Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The stinger of a female tarantula hawk can be up to 1/3 inch (7 mm) long, and delivers a sting which is rated among the most painful in the insect world."
OH MY GOSH.
i should mention here i HATE wasps. HATE...
And i found this about the sting of the sucker -
"Commenting on his own experience, one researcher described the pain as "…immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations." In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, second only to that of the bullet ant and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric"
i should also mention that i hate bugs in general and tend to act like a total girl, becoming very irrational and somewhat paralyzed...good thing i did not look up what it was beforehand, and THANKS SO MUCH GOD it did not sting me or the cats.
Gross, right???
4 comments:
Justin Schmidt (the Schmidt pain scale dude) is a researcher at the UofA. He guest lectured in one of my Ento classes and is a total goof.
So weird!!!
FREAKY!!! Wow, that is huge! I've heard about those, but, thank God, have never seen one up close! Especially after the, "except perhaps, scream" comment from the excerpt. eek!
Ps I thought of you in Sedona- my parents were discussing whether or not the white hills around Cottonwood were Limestone or not. Mom said yes, dad no. I said, "Too bad Layne isn't here. She could totally tell us." :D
Yuck. Just looking at that thing about makes me dry-heave. I screamed when I found a cockroach on my kitchen floor (luckily I had already unknowingly killed it by running over it with my wheelchair, heh heh! knew it would come in handy some day...) I think I would never want to come in my house again if I found that thing in it.
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