Heebie Jeebies

[jamesq]

thebrucie and I went to see Pineapple Express last night. Short review: Occasionally funny, worth renting.

Leaving the theater we saw something fly/fall down from the eaves and hit Bruce in the shoulder. I thought it was a small bird, like a starling. Looking down on the ground we see that it's a bug, on it's back now and unable to flip over. It was huge - as big as my thumb (for those of you who don't have a climate best described as Not Quite Winter, Winter, Still Winter, Construction, a bug as big as my thumb is bigger then anything I've ever seen outside a terrarium locally).

"I think that's a moth", said Bruce.
"I dunno - a moth should be able to flip over", I said.

I turn it over with my toe. It looks like a cockroach.

Now keep in mind I've never seen a cockroach in Calgary that wasn't some weird guy's pet. That doesn't mean we don't get them, it's just harder for them to spread so some people can get away with being slobs and not get invaded by these kinds of bugs. Typically they'll get fruit flies and ants though.

I did see a few in Cuba. They weren't this big.

"I bet you have an industrial strength case of the heebie jeebies now", I say, "Hell, I want to go wash my hair and it didn't even land on me."

We cautiously moved away from the building, looking up at its edge in case there was some big swarm waiting to pounce.

I guess roaches like popcorn. I'd hate to be the guy who ends up cleaning their vents.

Comments

[oblivions.livejournal.com]

*gag* It's like the big roach i saw at the Waterpark one year (and forever one of the reasons I will never set foot in the cesspool again) that was about the same size and i swear to gods danced the jig right in front of me.

Might it have been a June bug? They get very large. My mother tells me stories of when she worked in the lab as Dow and the things they did to the june bugs which were pretty awesomely huge. Side note, the bugs were tough and my mother is probably responsible for a whole new strain of super bug.

[jamesq]

I had to look up June Bugs to see what they actually looked like. This bug was a cockroach.

Seriously it was huge. Not quite Monster Island huge, but at least wear's-a-bandanna-and-threatened-us-with-a-switchblade huge.

[mallt.livejournal.com]

You don't know huge until you've lived in the middle or far east! ;)

Like This you Mean?

[jamesq]

Re: Like This you Mean?

[thebrucie.livejournal.com]

Okay... NOW I've got the heebie jeebies!

[zera82.livejournal.com]

Sounds about half as fun as Liam walking through a Black Widow's web on his front porch a few nights ago.

Re: Like This you Mean?

[oblivions.livejournal.com]

*jibbly jibbly jibbly* I still want to know what the hell the bug was doing on the roof. Normally they like warm and dark.

Re: Like This you Mean?

[mallt.livejournal.com]

oh yuck... I'd rather see a huge cockroach than that!

[jamesq]

That might be it. Reading the sight I found this:

Diet
Larvae eat small aquatic invertebrates, while adults prey on any small animal they can handle, including insects and other aquatic invertebrates. They also hunt vertebrates such as tadpoles, salamanders, people named Bruce and small fish. Grasping and holding prey with their powerful forelegs, giant water bugs thrust their sucking mouthparts into their prey. Many Giant Water Bugs are kept in zoos, where they are fed crickets

Aha! That explains everything!

Re: Like This you Mean?

[hislittlekitty.livejournal.com]

Ohhh.. this is about the size of the one I saw in England.

[thebrucie.livejournal.com]

You made that up! Small fish! I'll bet!

[thebrucie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that looks like it all right.