Howdy Alan. "Spiders eat live prey." Like me? LOL Alan, do you handle insects without wearing gloves? Oohhh. I had some doubts about baiting spiders..You're right, they're not like roaches..set food inside a trap, and like motels, they won't check out. Fears are inherited from our parents/guardians. My mother would scream when a spider, well, almost any insect got in the house. She wasn't afraid of lighting bugs, butterfly's, etc, neither am I..she detested moths..bird seed (we have plenty,) attracts moths. Thank goodness, moths don't worry me. Alan, how many different types of house spiders are there? Did you know IL had Black Widows? I had NO idea..In 1994, I worked in a retail plant store. One day, my manager (she knew my love of spiders,) walked in and said, Hey Toni, do you want to see a BW? I thought she was joking..Sure enough, on the side of the building, a BW resided..A co-worker said they lived in his yard..He lives in Chicago!!! I couldn't believe it..So, out of curiosity, I phoned the Chicago Public Library for verification, asked if they'd check, and sure enough, I was informed BW's were documented living in the midwest. And other cold climate states. I'll never forget this. My grandmother bought a bunch of bananas. As she pulled one off, stuck to the peel was a dead Banana Spider. This happened years ago. Why did you wife's doctor think the spider was a Recluse? Does he have a phobia? LOL. Alan, how on earth do you remember each spider/insect known to man, latin names? If this is too personal, you dont have to answer, but I was wondering if you've travelled to places like the Amazon searching for insects. I have to scroll up to see what your occupation is. I'd have to ask my friend, Cindy, how she or whomever concluded she was bitten by a Recluse. Both people who were bitten happened to be in a country-like atmosphere. She has a summer house about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. The second person who was bitten is a friend/co-worker of my husband. I hope your wife is okay, Alan..did you charge your wife's doctor a co-pay for analyzing his spider? LOL Spiders eat Praying Mantis? You're kidding? I'd imagine a large spider would be capable, but what about small to mid sized? I don't want to harm a Mantis. Alan, nope, EW's don't amount to much, especially since you mentioned they eat new foliage. No wonder my Croton has newly bitten leaves. The Croton is on a table..one of the spots I mentioned when you lift a pot numerous EW's take off. Do you know if they're nocturnal? Thanks for the info..You are a true-blue, knowledgeable insect-person. LOL. Sarah, if I hadn't scrolled up to search for something Alan wrote, I wouldn't have seen your post.. Well, next time/if, ants find a way in, I know what to do. Thanks so much. What happens to the ants when you set out the cotton? Does it kill them or keep them out? I dont know what essential oil is..What is it? You fear crickets? Really? I love when they sing at night, while lying in bed, but if one hopped on me, I'd probably fall on my, behind..LOL..Between spiders and crickets, I'd rather deal with crickets. Are crickets the only insect you fear? What about grasshoppers? Is it their appearance that troubles you, or the fact they hop/jump? If it's the hopping, what would you if you saw a Jumping Spider? Sorry, I don't know the Latin names. Oh Sarah, your cats are sooo pretty..Beautiful in fact. The Calaco, Ugs, (LOL, that name) colors are so pronounced. Luna's a nice name..Did you adopt during a full moon? (S) I'm happy you found and adopted Ug. What color are her eyes. Nerd's huge, green eyes are inviting. Are they lap cats? Purr loud? We had a Catalina Macaw (21 yrs.) His name was Zelda, (talk about names,) he was a surgically sexed male. We got Zelda when he was 6 months old, if that. After his 15th year with us, he changed, grew violent. Not a little violent, a lot. He turned against me. Every morning, while I was sleeping, he'd walk in the bedroom and bite. Everyday I'd wake dripping w/blood. One day while walking in the LR, he charged, bit the skin between my toes. To this day, my toes are split. Meaning when I stand, my toes are shaped like a 'V.' The conclusion, he 'flew' on my face, held onto my skin..he wouldn't let go. I was spinning around, and still he wouldn't loosen his grip. Their powerful beak ranges 4-5," maybe more.. That was it. I know a few women in charge of Illinois bird shows/fairs. They adopt unwanted/abused birds. Zelda wasn't abused at all, though when he woke me, I was afraid when half asleep, I'd strike out and hurt him. We took him to the vet for a physical before thinking about putting him up for adoption..the vet said he was going through sexual frustration. He was seeking a mate. Since he didn't want me touching anyone, including our son, he attacked me. We ended up putting him up for adoption..I was so darn depressed, but there wasn't any other choice. A single, lonely man adopted him; the two get along great. I keep tabs on Zelda but not allowed to visit. After 21 years, he might remember who we are, which might cause problems..I understand their rules. If anyone asks about adopting a bird larger than a love bird, (unless they live in a warm climate and/or have more than one bird) my advice is to look for a smaller parrot or move to a sub-tropical area. Birds need company, attention, and healthy foods..Bird seed isn't adequate. No siree-bob. They need fruit and veggies on a daily basis..they can't be locked in a cage 24/7. Around 5 years of age, birds go through sexual maturity. At that time, they need a lot of attention, bond, or else they'll eat your walls, furniture, and rip anything they feel will make appropriate nesting.. Budgies and Cockatiels are good size. They're smart, learn to whistle an entire song, and even talk. Males are vocal, females affectionate. Speaking of phobias, there are a good number of people who fear birds..Maybe they'd seen Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds movie..LOl.. Sarah, do your cats eat/bother your plants? Do they have a favorite? Toni

Rickey, Of course it was Fred. Who else his age is out driving around visiting gardeners in the middle of the afternoon? LOL If you see Billy Fred, do see if you can find out what he knows because he may know more details. Nowadays, when I ask Fred "who" he is talking about, he often can't remember names and will say something like 'you know...that guy that lives over yonder' and, of course, I have no clue who he means. Having said that, I hope that when I am Fred's age (and I'm not sure what it is but think right around 90?) I still get around as well as he does. Sometimes I do have to get Billy Fred to tell me who his dad is talking about because, while Fred always seems to have his facts straight, he does have trouble remembering names now and then. I had wondered about those goats....about how he keeps them safe because I've never seen any kind of guardian dog like a Great Pyrenees out there with them. I heard a loud growling this morning from the woods oddly enough (and I was inside the house and it sounded like it was right there in the room with me!) and it about scared me to death. As far away as your house is from ours, it is odd we've both heard that growling sound recently. It isn't like we're so close geographically that we'd hear the same growl at the same time. I've never heard this sound before and I pretty much thought I'd heard everything there is to hear around here. The dogs were going nuts in their dog yard, and I ran downstairs and didn't see a thing, but the cats were on the porch wanting to come inside. After that growling sound, I canceled my plans to work in the yard. James, I feel like much of what you say is true, but we have both good and bad government employees and always will. I know sometimes the local wildlife people seem to say whatever the 'official' story line is but their eyes and body language are telling you something else. Our local law enforcement officers are pretty good about telling us to 'do what you have to do' to stay safe, because they know they can't be everywhere at once. They also come as quickly as they can when called, but with only 1 or 2 or 3 county deputies/reserve deputies on duty at a time, their response time can be frustratingly slow. Game bird, I promise, if you tell me you see three dinosaurs crossing the road, I'll believe you. And. on a funnier note....Chris was 15 when we moved here and had a huge iguana named Alex. He built Alex a nice roomy outdoor pen, but somehow Alex would escape and run around although he always came back to the cage when he was hungry. We alerted our neighbors, and I showed Alex to Bill one day. We were watching Alex from the road and he climbed to the top of the pecan tree, which was then losing its leaves for autumn, so you could see Alex very clearly. At that point he was about 5' long. When Bill saw him, he said he needed to warn his wife and daughters because he feared they'd about run off the road and wreck their vehicles if Alex ever ran out into the road in front of them. Bill was afraid the women in his family would think Alex was an alligator. Carol, I do think a lot of people know exactly how to play the system. Tim and Chris both work at D-FW Airport, which is incorporated just like a city, and has a large Department of Public Safety consisting of police, fire and emergency medical personnel employees. Their department has several hundred employees and most are wonderful, but there are a couple that of virtually worthless. How people like that keep their jobs is just beyond me. Dawn

A good deal of experience here with their paint. It is possible to get a sample pot for about $6, which would be my suggestion. I've seen the Powder blue which I would describe as a real 1960s powder blue color. The surface quality of their paint is just wonderful. I feel it improves the look of my walls noticeably and it has a very unique velvety texture. It applies beautifully and holds up well. Thing with their colors, which are not touted as full spectrum, is that they are very noticeably changeable. The celery green in my guest room goes from lime to pale gray depending on the light coming in and the time of day. This has been true of every one of their colors I've used -- even the whites -- so I test and work slowly with them. F.ex. a friend of mine painted her bedroom in Old White, which looks pale gray/taupe when I saw it (IRL). The sample board in my front hall looked gray green and went to a smoke color in late after noon (too dark for the entry for me). It did not even look like the same color. I take the sample pot and paint 2 coats on a large (24 x 36) foam core board or other large poster board and tape it up so I can see how the color does in my rooms and leave it for at least a week. You might also want to look at Blackened, which is a blue gray and will be less intense (and less blue) than the Powder.

I'm told that smearing vaseline on something yellow works. Never had reason to try it myself, at least not yet!