It was either the largest roach I've ever seen

[Pencil Pusher]

or a mouse. A tiny mouse.

I've lived in heavily treed places, so I know the former comes big. This was bigger.

That was last night. I went back to bed, left the lights on, & tried to pretend I. didn't. see. anything.

My neighbor just came over screaming because of what she found in her kitchen.

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

The guys in the mouse truck (they really call it the rat truck, but ew!) just came. I told them there was a mouse trap under the sink when we moved in. One of them stuck his head under the sink & exclaimed, "Wow! That's a big one!"

I know he meant the trap. I *know* he meant the trap. (repeat to self)

[Mamagistra]

*snort* And mice don't fly! :eek:

[Beth in Central TX]

Maybe we should set up some type of support group for this.

I was opening up our blinds this morning to try and brighten up the house on this dreary day. I looked out back and noticed something close to the edge of our porch. It was a snake! I grabbed the phone and called our local animal control. My last frantic sentence to the man on the phone was, "Hurry! It's moving!!"

The snake came on to our porch, but then moved back into the grass. Whew! However, I couldn't see it from the window anymore, so I had to go outside; I wasn't going to let this thing disappear. I walked out back with my phone in case I needed to call 911 and watched the 3-foot long snake while my oldest son kept an eye out for the city employee.

The animal control guy showed up very quickly, grabbed the snake with a long stick, and took it to his truck. The snake wrapped itself around the stick; that's when I called my other boys to come look at the snake safely from the dining room window.

I was exhausted before school even started.

[Pencil Pusher]

Oh. my. :eek:

You win. A snake is worse!

Hm. But yours was outside. Maybe we'll call it a draw?;)

[Beth in Central TX]

Oh, no, you win hands down. Any rodent or reptile that gets inside the house is definitely worse. I think I probably would have had a heart attack if I found the snake inside this morning. Of course, my DH had already gone to work by the time I made my discovery. He now has snake patrol in the morning; I think one quick loop around the house will be good exercise for him.

[j.griff]

I would not have thought of calling animal control if I found a snake in our yard. I would probably just keep the dc inside all day, LOL, and have dh look for it later. (or, pull a mawmaw- my grandmother saw a "snake" sticking it's little head out from under their front porch steps. She got her shotgun and literally shot it's head off. That's when we discovered it was a lizard, LOL. I don't Have a gun though, LOL, and I doubt we'll be living in an area where the neighbors won't report hearing gunshots while our dc are living with us.)

[CleoQc]

Oh, no, you win hands down. Any rodent or reptile that gets inside the house is definitely worse.

Hmmm. we have a hamster !?!??:001_huh:

[Beth in Central TX]

Well, maybe my boys can visit you then because they've always wanted a pet (with a big, dramatic sigh thrown in). Of course, they don't clean up after themselves, so I'm not inclined to think that they will keep their promise to do everything that's needed to take care of the desired "pet of the week." In addition, I'm obviously not an animal person--doesn't matter if it's indoor, outdoor, tame, wild, whatever. I do take the boys to our local zoo, and we have wild rabbits that eat our garden, but that's the extent of my dealings with animals.

[Beth in Central TX]

For some reason, animal control was the first thing that popped into my mind. I wasn't sure they would come and get it, but I knew I wasn't going to get it, and it wasn't staying in my yard either. It's a good thing they said yes because my next phone call would have been to DH, who doesn't own a gun.

Your grandma sounds like a lot of fun. Snake or lizard, I would have shot it too (if I could). The lizard mix-up made me think of my middle son. He was about 5 at the time. He walked into the school room and saw something on the floor. His little eyes got really, really big. He looked at me and said, "There's an outside animal inside," and quickly left the room. By the time I got there, whatever it was had fled. I thought it was a mouse and went into a frenzy trying to figure out what to do next. It turns out it was just a gecko, which my husband eventually got out of the house.

[HomeOnTheRanch]

I like having snakes outside here...they eat the mice.

[Scarlett]

The kids found a snake in our back pasture yesterday. One came and got me (and neighbor) while two stood guard. We got there and it was coiled up. But it wasn't poisonous. It slithered away into a hole, hopefully in search of a mole to eat. It was probably only 2 feet long though.

[Laura in VA]

I would not have thought of calling animal control if I found a snake in our yard. I would probably just keep the dc inside all day, LOL, and have dh look for it later. (or, pull a mawmaw- my grandmother saw a "snake" sticking it's little head out from under their front porch steps. She got her shotgun and literally shot it's head off. That's when we discovered it was a lizard, LOL. I don't Have a gun though, LOL, and I doubt we'll be living in an area where the neighbors won't report hearing gunshots while our dc are living with us.)

It didn't matter what kind of snake it was, she'd cut its head off. My brother and I came home from school one day to find his rubber play snake headless. Her weapon of choice for live snakes was her garden hoe. There's no telling how many snakes she killed in her lifetime.

[LadyAberlin]

My mom hacks snakes to pieces when she finds them. We used to get 4 ft long alligators in our yard growing up. It was illegal to kill them and so one time my dad lassoed one and threw it the back of an old ranchero that he had and we took it down to a creek and released it.

[GothicGyrl]

I'd link pictures, but even *I* hate bugs.. but you couldn't have the biggest roaches as they all freakin live here!!!
(and Madagascar, where they hiss AND fly)...

Mice I can so handle. Roaches diediediediediediediedie....

[GothicGyrl]

I have no idea what happened.. I **was in the HM thread and this got put here? That's twice I've seen happen..

[elegantlion]

My house is in the middle of insect heaven, for them not me. We get flying termites in the spring, giant spiders used to live in the house, until we fogged, giant roaches, and I've seen at least five different kind of snakes in the yard.

In exchange I get to enjoy the frogs singing me to sleep, dragonflies, countless lizards, butterflies, turtles, and birds. We even had a blue heron in the front yard a couple of times. He was fishing in the ditch in the front of our house, there are tiny fish swimming around in it.

My yard is not for the squemish.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Well, we had a coyote in our yard and I called animal control and they refused to come because it wasn't actually attacking anyone!!! :glare:

[Doran]

I'd link pictures, but even *I* hate bugs.. but you couldn't have the biggest roaches as they all freakin live here!!!
(and Madagascar, where they hiss AND fly)...

Mice I can so handle. Roaches diediediediediediediedie....

Agreed! Mice don't really phase me, but roaches skeeve me out. Especially when you're coming out of the Dinner Key Marina showers, at night, in your bare feet, and just about mid-stride, airborne, stepping down but can't stop your forward motion, your dh says, "Look out!" Sucker wiggled up and out between my toes. I think it was at least eight feet long. Okay, maybe it was only an inch...or two...but toes, I'm telling you! It came out from between...

::SHUDDER::

Aubrey - honey - you have my utmost sympathies.

Doran

[Mekanamom]

Well, we had a coyote in our yard and I called animal control and they refused to come because it wasn't actually attacking anyone!!! :glare:

LOL! Right after we moved in here, three renegade pigs appeared in my yard and began rooting up the lawn. This was my first introduction to living in a "rural" area. I had NO idea what to do. They seemed like nice enough pigs, but they were rooting up the brand new sod!

There I was hanging on to a baby and a toddler and pregnant with my third. My mom was visiting. We had just been living in suburbia where you see squirrels and birds, and that's it.

So I called animal control. They were all set to come out and trap the wild pigs (they thought they were wild boar come down from the hills) until my mom mentioned *loudly* that they looked like someone's escaped 4-H project. Way. to. go. MOM.

So animal control refused to come, they said, because the pigs were not attacking anyone. :001_huh:

We ended up having to call the Sheriff! He thought it was funny and made jokes about coming back for a bacon breakfast the next day. The Sheriff and his team ended up chasing the pigs with flashlights until they (the pigs) got irritated enough to go home.

My opinion of animal control slipped a few notches that day. But I was really impressed with the Sheriff.

Heh- I can deal with mice, and I love love love snakes (they eat the ground squirrels and moles and gophers!!), but roaches? Gah!!!