# Today in nature I saw **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854 "2020-07-20T18:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 189
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3764 "2025-07-26T14:34:06Z")
So 2003, 2013 or 2023? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3765 "2025-07-26T14:45:03Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > They are clearly different from the ones I used to see that I thought were silverfish… > > In any case, do I get rid of them or let them be and is there another oblong insect with multiple pairs of skinny legs that might be what I am seeing? Looks like a house centipede to me and also no, you probably shouldn’t get rid of them. They look a little like nightmare fuel, but they are generally harmless to humans and even beneficial. They are eating your silverfish. I have both house centipedes and silverfish myself, in fact they’re the only arthropods I ever see in my place. I see the first once every year or so and leave them unmolested, the second maybe once a month (those I squash). They generally won’t bite people unless you grab them or step on them, they often won’t penetrate the skin if they do, if they somehow succeed in that it is unpleasant like a bee sting but not usually a big deal. Your call, but I’d say live and let live unless you’re being completely overrun by multi-legged hordes 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3766 "2025-07-26T15:10:29Z")
Those things used to be my one and only phobia. I was cured of it abruptly, though, when one somehow fell and landed right on my hand and (of course) nothing happened. I still think they’re creepy-looking, but I no longer jump and squeal like a child when I see one. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3767 "2025-07-26T16:34:03Z")
1. Darn I’m old. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3768 "2025-07-27T19:27:15Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > They look a little like nightmare fuel, but they are generally harmless to humans and even beneficial. They are eating your silverfish. When I saw one crawling up a wall in my house in New York, I was like a whole lot of “No!” and caught it in a box and let it outside. I had seen a silverfish or two (and if you see one, there are more…) and though I looked up what this thing was, only then did I find out they’re beneficial and like most spiders have no interest in humans. It was a few years later in Bath, UK that every night fire-brats (cousins of silverfish) would come into the house in large numbers via the entry porch. Diatomaceous earth (to insects it’s like razor wire and broken glass) helped, Borax (might have been called Boric Acid and I had to mail order it0 perhaps, clearing under the doormat of them during the day. These centipedes are supposedly rare in the UK yet I’d have had one or two shipped over and let them have at it. The next year I laid out the Diatomaceous earth yet did not see one. Dunno, maybe they’re like Cicadas. Four summers there: nothing, fire-brats, nothing, then the little (fruit) flies that like bananas. Yet we gave up leaving any fruits out yet these things would amass at the top of the back sliding door (where it was moist - shouldn’t be yet it was a rental) where they probably bred and made more. Could not keep up with them. Oh and when I was on Long Island earlier this month, I saw a doe on the HOA golf course, a nice beaver (never saw one before - used to see woodchucks) and rabbits yet no foxes (used to see). ETA: And there was mention of wild turkeys. I was riding my bike in the HOA years ago and came upon a dozen of them. They were pretty mature, yet almost as silently as owls they flapped their wings and disappeared into the trees straight up like a Harrier. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3769 "2025-07-29T04:46:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Looks like a house centipede to me and also no, you probably shouldn’t get rid of them. They look a little like nightmare fuel, but they are generally harmless to humans and even beneficial. They are eating your silverfish. > [@Chronos](#): > > I still think they’re creepy-looking, but I no longer jump and squeal like a child when I see one. Could you please teach my wife to stop doing that when she sees one? Once the screams die down, I am required by SWMBO to kill any she spots, but we have found that this stuff keeps them in their place without actually killing them. Spray it around the baseboards and door frames, and they stay out of the bedroom for a few days at least. Then repeat. > **[Amazon.com: Mighty Mint Peppermint Oil Insect Repellent Spray – Natural Indoor...](https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mint-Control-Peppermint-Natural/dp/B07JBRJH79)** > > Amazon.com: Mighty Mint Peppermint Oil Insect Repellent Spray – Natural Indoor & Outdoor Bug Control for Spiders, Ants, Roaches, and More – Plant-Based, Extra-Strong Formula - 16 oz : Health & Household ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3770 "2025-07-29T12:03:11Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Could you please teach my wife to stop doing that when she sees one? I could try, but it’s about 50-50 odds that either it’d work, or she’d kill me, given that my cure was from abrupt exposure therapy. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3771 "2025-07-29T13:28:10Z")
Water moccasin in my son’s yard yesterday. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54686955860_d7ffc5c4c1_b.jpg "Moccasin") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/54686955860/) His SO was out there moving plant pots around and nearly stepped on it. However, it didn’t strike and they watched it until it moved off into the woods. As for me, I’ve got wads of little fawns clogging up the place! Last night, the three babies came right up to the front door, and later on, as we sat out on the screened porch with the dogs, one rested under a bush about fifty feet away. The dogs would have been really excited if they had noticed. I’m starting to feel that I’m going to wake up some dark night and find a deer standing at the bedside… ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3772 "2025-07-29T15:58:20Z")
There is a patch of overgrown land next to a commuter train stop that I use, and I have noticed purple passionflowers that bloom every summer in later July or early August. This year was no exception: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54687246495_3fea2cee05_b.jpg "20250728\_190644") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/31573076@N00/54687246495/) Close up view [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54686096332_ff90e12111_b.jpg "20250725\_190446") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/31573076@N00/54686096332/) They are really cool lookiing flowers ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3773 "2025-07-29T16:04:15Z")
I love passionflowers, they look so alien, or Seuss-like. They’re able to grow here, but I don’t currently have any and I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3774 "2025-07-29T16:34:00Z")
That’s one well-fed snake! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3775 "2025-07-30T02:55:25Z")
[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/H2eWY3y.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/H2eWY3y) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3776 "2025-07-30T12:50:51Z")
Peaceful. I caught a glimpse of the moon through the trees last night and it was so bright I thought it must be the beaver moon or the huckleberry moon or whatever we’re calling it this month. Nope! Still about ten days to go. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3777 "2025-08-01T04:10:39Z")
The Florida river, below Lemon lake. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/xuuPo7p.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/xuuPo7p) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3778 "2025-08-03T21:13:54Z")
Insect special on the allotment! Yesterday I ran into a couple of nice ones. Photos cropped by google as always, click through for the full image. This guy was in my polytunnel, and surprised me by pinging off one pepper plant onto another, a distance of a good meter, acing the landing on a slick, shiny leaf. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPKEHQ-OI1zQNQ06485P_Pnu-J1C0NXVTzWKFHm2L4mbFCzAQMXtAOhWWZ2YLtKi7y5LGWVO2-aXzkRZUQNvasdn_usji5aMwy3p41rIUgla1p2NEs=w600-h315-p-k "New photo · Sunday, Aug 3 📸") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/7BJ9MGcSgbn7A1Wy9) And this guy crawled off of my raspberries and onto my finger. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNcJHH5WyhXPKe4VLFnMLhR9NWrYZxHxNtLIGfc90k0noqi1aCQ4ekYa7XEAOB58MnR0N1_OIdTdPx1plH5F4Q_B5sAmzaT4B-hu-IH2pn1Dt_zlQk=w600-h315-p-k "New photo · Sunday, Aug 3 📸") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/jszS7ZVqb9TrAwSH7) It’s a [shield bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomidae). I’ve seen them on blackberries before, so I guess it’s no surprise to see them on raspberries. j ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3779 "2025-08-05T12:24:27Z")
Great Horned Owl in the yard last night. I love owls! [https://flic.kr/p/2rkN8zU](https://flic.kr/p/2rkN8zU) Hmm, an apparent problem uploading images now. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3780 "2025-08-05T13:15:33Z")
Bald eagle commuting to his work this morning. There is a nest not far from us and in the morning, he heads up the stream that runs behind our house and in the late afternoon, he heads back down to his nest (or her, I don’t know). If we’re persistent, we can see him most days (or her). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3781 "2025-08-05T16:07:14Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3782 "2025-08-05T17:30:34Z")
My first coyote sighting here. It jogged across the road last evening while walking the dog. Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3783 "2025-08-05T17:54:47Z")
I saw the results of a bear visit last night - my garbage can was knocked over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=188) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=190)