Spider Hunting
Spiders scare me more than bears or bull moose23 total reviews
Comment from Mrs. KT
Hello, Tom!
Charlotte?
You killed one of Charlotte's relatives?
Oh my goodness!
So here is an admission that I don't often make: I'm a bit terrified of spiders, but I do everything that I can to NOT kill them. Instead, I yell for my husband, and my beloved husband always helps them outside if, for some unlucky reason, they have wandered into our home.
I enjoyed reading of your adventures... and the ease and interest with which you share them.
Thank you for sharing!
fondly,
diane
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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Hello, Tom!
Charlotte?
You killed one of Charlotte's relatives?
Oh my goodness!
So here is an admission that I don't often make: I'm a bit terrified of spiders, but I do everything that I can to NOT kill them. Instead, I yell for my husband, and my beloved husband always helps them outside if, for some unlucky reason, they have wandered into our home.
I enjoyed reading of your adventures... and the ease and interest with which you share them.
Thank you for sharing!
fondly,
diane
Comment Written 06-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 08-Sep-2024
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Hello Diane,
you're much kinder than I am gal. I don't like spiders in the least bit and give them no mercy if they find themselves unlucky enough to wander into my home. Thanks so much for the great review gal.
Have a blessed evening.
Tom
Comment from LJbutterfly
I don't blame you for killing a dangerous creepy crawler by shooting it before it did damage to you.
My husband and I were once traveling through Georgia. We stopped at a nice restaurant. When we left, I stepped on beautiful brown mulch for a picture under a lush green tree. MISTAKE! Fire ants in the mulch tore my ankles up. The pain, burn, itch, and swelling lasted for over a week, and that was with medication.
I live in Florida. Their spiders are bigger and thicker than the little spider in Philadelphia where I grew up. I keep bug spray in every room.
Thank you for sharing this story. You did the right thing.
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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I don't blame you for killing a dangerous creepy crawler by shooting it before it did damage to you.
My husband and I were once traveling through Georgia. We stopped at a nice restaurant. When we left, I stepped on beautiful brown mulch for a picture under a lush green tree. MISTAKE! Fire ants in the mulch tore my ankles up. The pain, burn, itch, and swelling lasted for over a week, and that was with medication.
I live in Florida. Their spiders are bigger and thicker than the little spider in Philadelphia where I grew up. I keep bug spray in every room.
Thank you for sharing this story. You did the right thing.
Comment Written 05-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 06-Sep-2024
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Hello LJ,
I hate bugs of all kinds. When we lived in Key West, we had problems with termites in the apartment we rented. Outside at night the ground would crawl with palmetto bugs if we turned on the porch light. In Charleston it was fire ants and snakes and some pretty decent sized spiders. Each area has it's own problems. I Hoonah we had some big spiders, and lots of them. It was wet down there and they loved to come inside. Up here where it's colder, they don't grow as big. I still kill them if they're inside, but I don't see too many. Thanks for the great review gal.
Have a blessed evening.
Tom
Comment from Liz O'Neill
A great example of juxtaposition. Great tongue-in-cheek humor: "With the movie playing fresh in my mind, I decided that I better buy myself a straw hat and wear a pair of coveralls before I took to the woods. I was hoping that I could fake a Southern accent well enough to keep me from getting shot or worse."
you draw the reader in with the next scene. Well done
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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A great example of juxtaposition. Great tongue-in-cheek humor: "With the movie playing fresh in my mind, I decided that I better buy myself a straw hat and wear a pair of coveralls before I took to the woods. I was hoping that I could fake a Southern accent well enough to keep me from getting shot or worse."
you draw the reader in with the next scene. Well done
Comment Written 04-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 05-Sep-2024
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Thanks so much for the delightful review Liz, I'm so glad you enjoyed this. Sometimes its a struggle deciding what to write about. I don't want to resort to politics, that's a no win situation, and I really don't think this site should be used to push a political point of view. I will some day soon probably do a religious story. It may not be appreciated either, but some things weigh on me and need to be addressed.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
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Thank you for the blessing
Comment from Sharon Elwell
As usual, this was fun to read. It's interesting to try to understand the point of view of men who hunt and are hunted. A squirrel seems like much too small to be worth the effort of skinning and gutting unless you're seriously hungry. My own dad once shot a mouse with a shotgun - inside the house. I understand him better now!
reply by the author on 04-Sep-2024
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As usual, this was fun to read. It's interesting to try to understand the point of view of men who hunt and are hunted. A squirrel seems like much too small to be worth the effort of skinning and gutting unless you're seriously hungry. My own dad once shot a mouse with a shotgun - inside the house. I understand him better now!
Comment Written 04-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 04-Sep-2024
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Hi Sharon,
it's more about quantity when you're talking about squirrels. One would never do, but three or four were more or less worth it. I haven't had to resort to eating them since the early days of my time in the navy. In Alaska, there was much bigger game, much more satisfying and tasty. I almost shot a squirrel that was walking across our bedroom ceiling every night. It was driving me nuts. At 2:00 AM, every night it started scampering across the ceiling. I thought about shooting with a shotgun and just repairing the sheetrock, but I managed to catch it in a mousetrap in the attic, so I saved myself the hassle of fixing the ceiling. Thanks so much for the great review gal. Have a blessed day.
Tom
Comment from Jim Wile
Man, I'm with you there! The cockroaches there are huge too. We used to summer vacation in Charleston, SC when I was a kid because my mother was from there. We stayed at a house on the beach and the cockroaches in that house were about 3 inches long.
I loved this story, Tom. So amusing and told so well.
And I can identify with it because I share your same hatred of spiders. Just a few weeks ago, I was in my bathroom at the sink, shaving and going through my morning routine when I saw a big spider crawling around on the floor. I went to step on it, but it scooted around in back of the toilet and I couldn't reach it with my slippered foot. Not wanting to leave it scurrying around and possibly crawl up my leg and bite me, I looked around for something to kill it with when I spotted some hairspray. So I sprayed that sucker real good. I went back to shaving, and a couple minutes later looked down, and the spider was still alive and staggering around. Fortunately, he was sticky enough that he couldn't move very fast, and I was able to squash him before he scurried behind the toilet again.
I was pret-ty proud of myself for my ingenious solution!
So, what does squirrel taste like?
reply by the author on 04-Sep-2024
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Man, I'm with you there! The cockroaches there are huge too. We used to summer vacation in Charleston, SC when I was a kid because my mother was from there. We stayed at a house on the beach and the cockroaches in that house were about 3 inches long.
I loved this story, Tom. So amusing and told so well.
And I can identify with it because I share your same hatred of spiders. Just a few weeks ago, I was in my bathroom at the sink, shaving and going through my morning routine when I saw a big spider crawling around on the floor. I went to step on it, but it scooted around in back of the toilet and I couldn't reach it with my slippered foot. Not wanting to leave it scurrying around and possibly crawl up my leg and bite me, I looked around for something to kill it with when I spotted some hairspray. So I sprayed that sucker real good. I went back to shaving, and a couple minutes later looked down, and the spider was still alive and staggering around. Fortunately, he was sticky enough that he couldn't move very fast, and I was able to squash him before he scurried behind the toilet again.
I was pret-ty proud of myself for my ingenious solution!
So, what does squirrel taste like?
Comment Written 04-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 04-Sep-2024
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Hello Jim,
well done on dispatching that spider buddy! I hate those things. They don't belong in a person's house. You know, if they want to take the chance on hanging out inside, they should know full well the consequences of their decision should they get caught.
It's been a long time since I've eaten it. I can't say that it's especially tasty, and being as small as they were, they weren't very filling, but they helped to provide some protein. When the boys were small, I bought them BB guns with the caveat that if they shot anything living, they had to eat it. One day they shot a squirrel, so they skinned it and cooked it on an open fire in the woods. The great white hunters. A few days later, the hide was nailed to my shed, and one of the boys had cut off a foot and taped it to a pencil for a back scratcher. I was glad to see that they didn't let anything go to waste. I used to sell the tails to Mepps fishing company. They used the hair for their spinners around the hook. It seems like I got a dollar a tail. Thanks for the entertaining review my friend.
Have a blessed day.
Tom
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Thanks for the entertaining reply to the review, my friend!
Comment from GWHARGIS
This was something only a grounded man could admit. The south ain't so bad. Believe it or not, we're afraid of Yankees and Midwestern people. Lol. I had a 1974 Pinto. Only a secure guy or girl would admit that. This was a fun story. (Que up the banjos)
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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This was something only a grounded man could admit. The south ain't so bad. Believe it or not, we're afraid of Yankees and Midwestern people. Lol. I had a 1974 Pinto. Only a secure guy or girl would admit that. This was a fun story. (Que up the banjos)
Comment Written 03-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Hello Gretchen,
thanks so much for the delightful review and the six gal, I truly appreciate it. I ended up really enjoying living in Charleston, aside from the snakes and fire ants and all the people. Oh, and the alligators. I used to go fishing at the Naval Weapons Station ponds, and the gators would chase after my bobbers. I loved the people down there, such a different attitude compared to what I grew up with in Ohio. Almost everyone was nice to me.
We loaded that Pinto and towed a trailer with all of our worldly goods up through the mountains of North Carolina as well as the Rockies, all the way to Prince Rupert British Columbia without a problem.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
Comment from Pam Lonsdale
I went hunting on fall day (make it one fall day)
Yes, we certainly do grow them big here in the South:-) That spider must have been in a thousand pieces!
This was a really enjoyable read, Tom. I like it when you share bits of your past with these entertaining stories. Except for the one correction I noted, this was technically really well written.
Thanks for sharing.
xo
Pam
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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I went hunting on fall day (make it one fall day)
Yes, we certainly do grow them big here in the South:-) That spider must have been in a thousand pieces!
This was a really enjoyable read, Tom. I like it when you share bits of your past with these entertaining stories. Except for the one correction I noted, this was technically really well written.
Thanks for sharing.
xo
Pam
Comment Written 03-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Hello Pam,
thanks so much for the wonderful review and the six gal. I appreciate you catching that error too. If there were any pieces at all of that spider, they had to be microscopic. I would say that I couldn't have missed, but I missed hitting a snake that had come out of the water along side the trail. I had passed right by it and it didn't register until I had passed. I turned and fired and missed, from a few feet away. I was pretty well unnerved by it.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
Comment from Esther Brown
Laughing so much I had trouble reading it out loud to Gary. He also is a hunter, also despises spiders. He found a new way to kill them, a "salt" gun. When we lived in the city he would put on his miner's light and go out in the yard, shoot slugs and spiders at night. He can still bring down a spider on first shot in the house. Esther
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Laughing so much I had trouble reading it out loud to Gary. He also is a hunter, also despises spiders. He found a new way to kill them, a "salt" gun. When we lived in the city he would put on his miner's light and go out in the yard, shoot slugs and spiders at night. He can still bring down a spider on first shot in the house. Esther
Comment Written 03-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Hello Esther,
thanks so much for the wonderful review and entertaining comments gal. I've seen those guns. Here they're marketed as "Bug Assault" guns. I've almost bought one several times. When I was fishing in Hoonah, the damned horse flies drove me to distraction. I used my salt water wash down hose to knock them down. One day I killed over 80 of them. They used to get in my front windows and drive me batty too. I'd whack them with my hat and throw them in a pee bucket. I figured if they were going to bother me, I was going to repay the favor.
Have a blessed evening gal.
Tom
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Sounds like you NEED a salt gun.
Comment from Karen Cherry Threadgill
Your stories are magnificent. Have you ever submitted to readers digest ,or outdoor living, or field and stream.? Ah.... to see our name in official print! That we didn't have to pay for!
Good writing. Karen
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Your stories are magnificent. Have you ever submitted to readers digest ,or outdoor living, or field and stream.? Ah.... to see our name in official print! That we didn't have to pay for!
Good writing. Karen
Comment Written 03-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Hello Karen,
I'm so happy that you've enjoyed this story. I once tried to submit a story to Reader's Digest years ago. I had dug a big hole out front so I could bury some driftwood for an outdoor planter. The kid across the street came over and asked me who died. He figured I was going to bury a body. Thanks so much for the delightful review and the six gal, I appreciate it.
Have a blessed evening.
Tom
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I would have said, another nosey kid. And smiled really big. :-)
Comment from Jacob1395
That must've been terrifying, particularly when you realised just how vulnerable you were in that moment. I think many people would've done what you did as well, although that doesn't stop us from feeling guilty about it. A well written piece, I enjoyed reading it.
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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That must've been terrifying, particularly when you realised just how vulnerable you were in that moment. I think many people would've done what you did as well, although that doesn't stop us from feeling guilty about it. A well written piece, I enjoyed reading it.
Comment Written 03-Sep-2024
reply by the author on 03-Sep-2024
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Hello Jacob,
thanks so much for the great review. I didn't feel guilty about shooting the spider, I actually felt quite relieved that it wouldn't be lurking around the woods possibly attacking unsuspecting hunters.
Have a blessed evening.
Tom