Spiders

[zboss]

Originally Posted by zeehag

found a lovely bright green iguana vs gekko on board yesterday....i hope he eats bugs--lol....

The problem with the Geckos is that they crap EVERYWHERE. We have to make sure we cover our bed and pillows every day, otherwise they end up with Gecko crap all over them.

The Geckos do eat a lot of insects but it takes a lot of geckos to do the job.

We tried attracting bats to the back of our house but can'r seem to find a suitable bat house that they like. Your milage may vary but I have heard a lot of people having luck with insect control by reintroducing bats via bat houses into their back yards. Bats eat everything... mosquitos, no seums, spiders, etc...

Bat houses are cheap to construct but require certain parameters to be met for them to be acceptable by the bats - such as facing the right direction, out of noise, not to hot, not to cold, and so on. You could encourage your marinas to build bat houses.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by zboss

We tried attracting bats to the back of our house but can'r seem to find a suitable bat house that they like. Your milage may vary but I have heard a lot of people having luck with insect control by reintroducing bats via bat houses into their back yards. Bats eat everything... mosquitos, no seums, spiders, etc...

Bat houses are cheap to construct but require certain parameters to be met for them to be acceptable by the bats - such as facing the right direction, out of noise, not to hot, not to cold, and so on. You could encourage your marinas to build bat houses.

Count yourself lucky you haven't managed to attract them.

Bats can easily spread fatal diseases (even without biting you, through contact with their saliva and droppings).

Rabies, viruses such as the Hendra virus (a current problem in Australia) and others causing haemorrhagic fever (Africa), fungal infections that can affect the lungs etc.

It is NOT a good idea to encourage marinas to build bat houses

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Count yourself lucky you haven't managed to attract them.

Bats can easily spread fatal diseases (even without biting you, through contact with their saliva and droppings).

Rabies, viruses such as the Hendra virus (a current problem in Australia) and others causing haemorrhagic fever (Africa), fungal infections that can affect the lungs etc.

It is NOT a good idea to encourage marinas to build bat houses

Never heard about anyone getting sick around here from bats ! We played wth them when we were kids by using a fishing rod w/small lead tied to the end ,cast it into the air and they go crazy trying to catch it ,when they run into it it knocks them out and you could grab them and chase the girls..Nothing wrong with bats ,no sir ree..They aint worth a poot for food though and I know folks that will pay big money to eat one,bones,hair and all.

[Tingum]

Boy did this get off topic!
I thought it was about spiders. I like the ones that live under the covered docks on Kentucky Lake. You pull into the slip and they tie the boat up for you, no dock lines needed.

[sailr69]

my method of ridding the boat of spiders is quite simple, first wait until sunset when the spiders begin the web and using a flashlight walk around the boat and just zap the spider with spiderkil a small squirt is all it takes. walk around the boat looking for them and zapping them one at a time. the small ones come out first and then the larger ones. you will need to do the same the next night. after two or three nights they will be gone. about every two-three weeks repeat. success! btw, they don't crawl up dock lines like rats. they spin a straight line of silk and let the wind take them wherever. the more trees you have around you, the more spiders you will have

[jongleur]

Sorry SFT. I can't come down to your level of discussion.

Thanks anyway.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Count yourself lucky you haven't managed to attract them.

Bats can easily spread fatal diseases (even without biting you, through contact with their saliva and droppings).

Rabies, viruses such as the Hendra virus (a current problem in Australia) and others causing haemorrhagic fever (Africa), fungal infections that can affect the lungs etc.

It is NOT a good idea to encourage marinas to build bat houses

Throughout the caribbean, they are working hard at returning bats to the ecosystem and its a good thing. I stick with my opinion that bats make great ecological balancers vs. using chemicals, which I think we all agree are pretty bad for you.

Originally Posted by Tingum

Boy did this get off topic!
I thought it was about spiders. I like the ones that live under the covered docks on Kentucky Lake. You pull into the slip and they tie the boat up for you, no dock lines needed.

Bats aren't off topic... bats eat spiders and mosquitos. More bats, a lot less mosquitos. Less mosquitos equals less spiders.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by jongleur

Sorry SFT. I can't come down to your level of discussion.

Thanks anyway.

Insults are the last resort of ...

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by zboss

Throughout the caribbean, they are working hard at returning bats to the ecosystem and its a good thing. I stick with my opinion that bats make great ecological balancers vs. using chemicals, which I think we all agree are pretty bad for you.

Bats aren't off topic... bats eat spiders and mosquitos. More bats, a lot less mosquitos. Less mosquitos equals less spiders.

I wholeheartedly agree that bats help balance the ecosystem, but encouraging them to nest close to human habitation and in marinas, as you suggest, is not a good idea in my opinion.

I just had a look at what the CDC have to say on the subject:
CDC Features - Take Caution When Bats Are Near

They state several species of bats are reservoirs for strains of the rabies virus (rabies is generally fatal if not treated until symptoms appear).

They list histoplasmosis next (this is the fungal infection I mentioned in my previous post). Although it generally resolves without treatment, it leaves permanent damage to tissues - I have seen cases of blindness as a result of histo. For the immunocompromised and in '3rd world' countries it can be fatal.

Although only affecting Australia (and remember this is an international forum you are posting advice on), the Hendra virus transmitted by bats has caused huge problems over the last couple of decades for horses.

Bats pose a significant risk.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

I wholeheartedly agree that bats help balance the ecosystem, but encouraging them to nest close to human habitation and in marinas, as you suggest, is not a good idea in my opinion.

I just had a look at what the CDC have to say on the subject:
CDC Features - Take Caution When Bats Are Near

They state several species of bats are reservoirs for strains of the rabies virus (rabies is generally fatal if not treated until symptoms appear).

They list histoplasmosis next (this is the fungal infection I mentioned in my previous post). Although it generally resolves without treatment, it leaves permanent damage to tissues - I have seen cases of blindness as a result of histo. For the immunocompromised and in '3rd world' countries it can be fatal.

Although only affecting Australia (and remember this is an international forum you are posting advice on), the Hendra virus transmitted by bats has caused huge problems over the last couple of decades for horses.

Bats pose a significant risk.

Chickens, according to CDC,cause dieases also,what to do?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Chickens, according to CDC,cause dieases also,what to do?

Heard a rumour that White Humans are pretty dangerous to have around... so many germs and virus's... hell whole races were wiped out when White folk showed up on their shores...
Get a Grip...

[captain58sailin]

Boric acid in the powder form and Chrysanthemum, ground up seed cases are deadly to almost every insect and benign to humans, cats & rats & elephants. We do get brown recluse spiders, it seems that a squirt of windex at the base of the doors leading outside seems to stop the ingress.

[Sailor_Hutch]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

Those little emmeffers bite me when I am asleep and leave a nasty welt.

Some times I get bit right near the elastic on my PJs

PJs? LOL - Do you change out of those for your watch?

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Heard a rumour that White Humans are pretty dangerous to have around... so many germs and virus's... hell whole races were wiped out when White folk showed up on their shores...
Get a Grip...

CDC aint reporting that,hum..

[Sailor_Hutch]

All those bugs are why we blow up like a balloon when we're both unlucky and MOB. It's interesting that if we somehow get below the thermocline, we can stay down and not bloat. Bugs can't grow at low temps. Hmmm ... maybe this post has gone MOB / TMI / trivia / off topic / gross.