Was playing with flashcards on the floor with the boys this morning and saw something out of the corner of my eye. Perched on the wall, not far above our heads, was this:
(not my picture. stole it from the internet.)
I freaked. I don't do insects well. Especially when they're 4 inches long and look like spider meets mosquito.
My effort to remain calm in front of the kids was shot when the thing started to fly around in our little living room. I sent off some frantic texts to Brent ("Hellllllllllllp!" "It's HUGE!!!" "My heart is pounding!"), stuff like that. I don't know what I was expecting him to do for me, haha. My boys were wide-eyed and I was left to my own devices.
The thing landed on the blinds and I knew I had to act quick, before it started flying around again (which would surely have stopped my heart). My own devices, unfortunately, didn't include a long-armed flyswatter, so I grabbed a hot wheel track and stunned it long enough to suck it into an outstretched vacuum hose. I feel bad murderizing the thing but boy oh boy it felt good to breathe again.
Did some googling afterward and identified it as a "crane fly," which are extremely common in the Pacific Northwest. Hopefully I won't freak out next time, because there will surely be a next time.
Oh, and it turns out they're completely harmless. Physically, anyway.
4 comments:
I believe in the south they call them Mosquitoeaters and they are actually quite helpful in that area, anything that will kill Mosquito's is a friend in my book
We have some nasty bugs out here too. That thing looks frightening.
Also known as a mosquito hawk. Yes, they eat mosquitos.
haha yeah keep your vacuum handy and plugged in, it was a useful tool our years in Georgia.
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