I found this Daddy Long Legs on my back patio

This is some sort of an Opilione.
I found this Daddy Long Legs on my back patio on top of an over turned planter.
He's saying Hello in this photo-

He said he'd had enough and said Good Bye to me in this photo-

Hey yours has all it's legs! All the ones I seem to see are missing at least one.
That last pictures great...I love it!

I take hundreds of photos and sadly I am so unskilled that I only get about 1 decent one out of 100. I'm glad you liked this. It is actually one of my favorites. Totally silly the way he ducked his body down in the little drain hole of the planter as if he was hid. Too bad he forgot his legs!

Too funny Equilibrium! I love the pics :-)

-Julie

Thanks so much Julie! Those truly were some of my favorites.
Bye for now, Lauren

Hilarious, forgot his legs indeed. Like a child thinking it is hidden from you. It is truly a great shot.

I had a kid once who hid behind a curtain at a doctor's office for a visit where he knew he was going to get a routine vaccine. He was about as inconspicuous as a big fat rat eaten by a snake. It was amusing to see that lump with sandals and toes sticking out from behind the curtain and other parents were laughing too at how he was "hidden". Funny but that is exactly what I was reminded of when I saw that daddy long legs ducking down in the drain hole. Glad somebody else made the same connection!

If only everyone could think a daddy long legs is "cute" the world would be a better place. Not that DG people are elitist!

"Cute" is not a scientific term, ewl!

sorry John am not following you around..but about the Daddy long legs, I have a lot of them in my sun room, [ many many plants in there] however my son told me recently that they can bite and are quite a problem..however they are devouring so many of those tiny little flies [ which drive you mad..I cannot spray] that I decided to keep them all...only hope now that I don't get bitten.....:›)

They really can't bite people and it's a good thing. I have a house full of them - old houses in the desert just do that's all. And they keep the black widow population in check.. They hide their nests in the cracks where trim pieces come together and such so I only get to vaccuum the ones I can see. lol I made a deal, they stay on the ceiling I leave em alone.

This message was edited Sep 25, 2004 7:46 PM

Good thinking Blooms thats what I say..stay far enough away from me that o'k but it is when I move a plant or something and they scurry away...makes my skin crawl..because it also makes me remember when I was a child..we had an outhouse and we as kids used to put pins thru them and pull their legs off, so I think this is some deep rooted psycological problem that I have because I treated them so bad....shame.. shame.. :›(

You all crack me up sometimes. Vacuuming spiders is a new one on me. We do vacuum Japanese lady bugs around here. Sometimes we even suck them up with shop vacs they are so thick. It's about that time of year again when they will be trying to come in and soon we will be crunching when we walk because one just can't avoid stepping on them there are so many under foot.

Ahhh, not so fond memories of outhouses. We finally got plumbing in our other house back in 1977 or maybe it was 1978. One of those years as I was still finishing off my under grad and I recall having college friends who came over and they were shocked that outhouses still existed. They had only read about them and had never ever seen one for real. One friend thought I was joking. Joke was on her but I suppose if you have to go pee bad enough, you'll go anywhere. Tee he, we still had a party line until the late 80's up at that house. Anyone remember those? Anyway; after we got our first inside toilet in that home, there was no more freezing your rear end off to go pee during the winter and no more rolls of damp toilet paper with bugs crawling out of the center hole every time you picked it up to use it in the warmer months. Yup, we had Daddy Long Legs in our outhouse too. Actually, there were quite few things that go bump in the night living out in that outhouse. We never took their legs off though as my Mom was a major wildlife lover who was really into laying guilt on all of us kids heavy. I recall once when several of my brothers were caught sticking pieces of straw in the rear ends of horse flies. They would stick the straw in and watch them buzz up and down the windows inside the barn in a vertical position while they reduced themselves to back slapping fits of giggles. When my Mother saw that little stunt with them laughing about it, she about "had a cow" and was fit to be tied that any of her children could be so cruel. Nobody ever did that again. I guess this is still with me as when we run into spiders in our house, I cup them in my hand and toss them out and so do our boys. No sense in killing a good spider! We like them anyway. Flies we swat with no mercy though.

So Marion, does the straw up the rears of horseflies make you feel any better about taking the legs off of Daddy Long Legs? Kids do a lot of weird things because they just don't think. Shame shame to all of us!

Very funny photo story and you used only two to tell it!

No John, that was the same Daddy Long Legs. When I walked out and took the first picture it was up. The flash must have made him duck down into the drain hole and that made me laugh so I snapped another shot. Good timing too because it took off and left after the second flash.

So what poor "cute" defenseless insects/arachnids did you torment or torture as a child?

None, I was a good boy!

Spoil Sport! Not even one worm on a hook to go fishing?

mmm, maybe.

That's better.

Equil I am still trying to understand how you [ or the boys] stuck a piece of straw up the rear ends of those flies...am trying to picture it and I am not quite getting it...but boys being boys I am sure they managed just fine,...could you please draw me a picture..smile [ and yes, that did make me feel better]
You put us to shame John could not imagine you doing anything like that when you were a boy.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do appologise to flies before I kill them tho.. you know excuse me Mr Fly 'squelch' 'squelch'
Has your nose grown yet John......well, thats what you get for telling porkers....(:>)
[ I was a good boy...in your dreams] m

Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I remember it all too well as I was the tattle tale who ran inside and told my Mom. They were sort of pinching them between their fingers of one hand and would press them up against the glass in the cow barn. Then they would force/push a pointy piece of straw into their rearends with their other hand and let them try to fly. The weight of the little piece of straw made the horseflies fly up right. I was totally disgusted even at such a young age.

I have to laugh about how Marion apologizes to flies before she squelches them. I apologize in my head too but I still whack them and mosquitoes that try to suck my blood. I have one son who can't even kill a fly even though he knows they carry diseases and knows they should be killed. This son had to create an insect collection and he had to kill them, mount them, and identify them for a grade. The first few insects he killed he apologized and said he was really really sorry but sometimes scientists have to do things they don't like and tears were running down his face. This kid took killing them too hard so I called the teacher and told her he would turn in what he had and would take what ever grade he got and that I was the parent and that my kid just couldn't take killing the insects. The teacher stated there were always a few kid who had trouble but that they were usually girls. I told her that was not to be shared with my son as it would only make him feel worse. I also told her there would be no dissecting of frogs for this kid either unless he felt comfortable doing so and that was doubtful. I followed up with an e-mail summarizing my decisions as I figured when he got the F in science that I could add a copy of my e-mail to his report card to save. I then told my son that he didn't have to kill any more insects because I said so and that he could breathe easy as he wouldn't have to dissect a frog either. I can honestly say that was a sound decision as my kid was so relieved he told me that his stomach had been getting upset every time he even thought of it. I didn't know. Long and short of the story is that we have a lot of spiders around here. We saw a beautiful butterfly dead in a web and my son took it out of the web. Both of us looked at it and from that moment on we began searching high and low for spider webs so that he could "gather" insects for his project that were already dead. Then we went over to the homes of neighbors who left porch lights on as they always had dead insects everywhere and he gathered those. Incredible. My son turned in the most insects and was the only child in the class who got an A+ plus the award of extra credit. I still have no idea how we will handle the frog dissection which is looming at us in the future.

So John, if you really were a good boy, there are others out there.

After hearing your son's story I must confess that I was not the quality human being that your son is. I'm at a loss for words! The lump in my throat is too distracting. :-)

Equilibrium, why on earth didn't the teacher jsut say he could collect insects in jars without killing them?!?!?!?! Shame on her! He could label the jars just as easily as he could label a piece of paper on a stickpin! Sheesh! Now the frog disection is a different matter, but at least when I was a teenager, frog dissection didn't involve the kids actually killing the frogs...they were already in formaldehyde long before that.

Outhouses!?!!! I wouldn't have done well with that....although I don't let my kids know about it since I don't want them inheriting my stupidity, I'm sooooo scared of spiders! Gives me the heebyjeebies just thinking about them. But my arachniphobia also means I don't like killing them....sorta a psychotic fear that they'll all come after me for killing one of their own ROTFLMAO In the garden or in full view, I think they are cool. The thought of one crawling on me though ... (shivers runnign up my spine) yechs!

-Julie

Speaking of dissecting frogs, my first teaching assignment involved teaching anatomy and physiology. I was loathe to dissect frogs or any other creature. I knew what sorts of disrespectful acts it could inspire in teenagers. I witnessed them as a biology student. I talked my kids out of it. Instead, we used sets of bones, owl pellets, sheep eyeballs, hearts and other organs from the grocery store. However, once I made the mistake of going to the pig slaughter plant to get "fresh" parts. I will NEVER get over the screams and the smell and the warm parts wrapped in paper they had prepared for me. I cried all the way to school. I have never taken another bite of pork and discourage my boys from eating it too. But lordy they love bacon. It's a lost cause.

The vegetarian's point of view is very understandable. I will think about it tomorrow.

Yes, I have good boys. All of them but we work really hard at it and spend an incredible amount of time with them. But John, get the lump out of your throat as they are boys and they can be quite brutal toward one another from time to time. Kill a frog... no way. Knock one of their brother's blocks of their body in the heat of the moment... in a heart beat and without batting an eyelash. Boys will be boys and I swear I feel like an umpire around here sometimes.

Hi Julie, I have no idea what was wrong with the teacher. Perhaps after years and years of dealing with irresponsible parents and children, she became desensitized. She was a good teacher but had never had children of her own. I truly don't think she ever made the connection of how adversely it had affected my kid and I sort of got the feeling that the comment that only girls had had problems with killing the insects in the past was directed more at me. I didn't appreciate it however I am not the type to back down when it comes to one of my kids. We are mature parents and I am sure she is used to much younger who are more easily intimidated. I am relatively sure she caught on real quick that her strategy had failed. I am going to discuss the frog situation at the first parent teacher conference. I am sort of tossing around the idea of letting him use the Internet and locate frogs being dissected and allowing him to label the images. I think I better check to see if such photos even exist. Doesn't matter to me as if push comes to shove, I will conveniently schedule a two week family vacation to cover the week in February when they plan on dissecting the frogs. Hmmm, some place warm where they can see live frogs might be nice. Seriously, I don't know how to handle the up and coming from deal but I will pull all of them out of school if I have to. And, outhouses aren't that bad. It could be worse. Go camping with a bunch of boys and practice the "Leave No Trace" philosophy. You get to dig your own hole and balance over it to do your thing. I lost my balance once and I would say I was rather hostile when I finally got my rear out of that hole. They were all laughing but stopped real quick when they realized I was not in a joking mood. At least outhouses have real toilet seats.

Hi earthwormlover, We don't ever eat pork and rarely eat red meat unless my husband has a taste for a steak and then that is only about once a month if even that. We're not vegetarians, red meat just isn't healthy for us. I can't imagine going to a slaughter house of any type. I'd probably have nightmares for weeks on end. You know there is turkey bacon out there right? As far as the owl pellets, those are a blast. We have done that here a few times. I have a few spares. If you want two for your kids, I would be more than happy to send them to you. They are truly educational and it so neat to try to reconstruct what the owl ate. We were able to get one pretty complete skeleton of a vole once. I have no idea what is in the two that are left here in the zip lock on the kitchen counter. The sheep eyeballs would be a little much for us but I'll take your word for it that they are cool.

EWL, when I was in 5th grade we dissected a sheep's heart and in 6th grade a cow's lung....all taken as "spare parts" from local butchers. So no animals were killed specifically for our dissection. That made most of the kids feel better about it. But when 7th grade came around and frogs were to be dissected, many of the kids felt bad about it...that the frogs died for the sole purpose of making sure we had a science project.....what a waste. To avoid insulting you, I won't tell you what other thing we dissected that year which none of the kids seemed to think was all that bad ;-)

-Julie

Equilibrium, I hate to say that I'd have probably laughed too...but only if it didn't happen to ME LOL. If it had been me in your place, I'd have been "hostile" too ROTFL

-Julie

He he he, you wouldn't have laughed. Somebody else had been too lazy to dig their own hole in favor of using mine. Need I say any more?

Now, tell me tell me tell me what was the other thing you dissected in school? It's pretty hard to insult me. You can't leave me like this.

Equil you sound like a pretty good mom, I used to be quite hostile to when it came to my kids having to kill and dissect anything [my conscience always troubled me over those spiders..but I hated spiders and was really afraid of them ]...My youngest son was always a gentle soul, he would bring the baby birds inside, the ones which had fallen out of their nests and we would feed them on cottage cheese [ never worms..cannot kill worms, not even for my fish ] my oldest I had to watch out for..now and again he would do something which upset me....[ you know the type quiet but sneaky]...gorgous now tho that he is all grown up...
I had to chuckle imagining your rear being stuck in that hole, but I can see how you would not have been amused...you did better than what I could have done...
Whenever I have gone camping I prefer to do it in the Hilton style [ I know with 2 boys you would think I could have done better] but I could not stand the thought of creepy crawlies walking over me...My sister was so terrified about going to Australia to visit our brother as she thought the spiders were going to get her [follow her around] I told her they were only on the east coast [ I think ??] and not to worry..???????
We have always kept loads of frogs around here in our pond, and the aquarium ones so there is no way the boys would ever be allowed to kill a one in the classroom I know our youngest would have told me..he would not have done that so they must have already been bottled...the older one I have no idea, we never talked about it [ mummy did not want to know ever] How many sons do you have Equil..boys are neat !!!!! I know you will get the frog situation worked out..we always find a way.....[ you can do it] m
ps that was a real GOOD explanation of those horse flies..I got the picture ha

bye the bye, did you know when you pull the legs off spiders they jerk around for the longest time..all those little legs jerking minus the bodies..we were fascinated...makes me feel sick now.....:›(

So do frogs! :-(

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT CONSIDERING YOU WERE SUCH A WELL BEHAVED CHILD... and don't go blaming that on somebody else..your nose must be a mile long by now....[pinnochio?] :›)

I heard that somewhere.

we ALL believe you ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!
(: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My credibility is intact. Whew!

what credibility !!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Daddy Long Legs are the only bug that truly grosses me out. I can handle spiders and bugs of all types. I'll pick up snakes, frogs and lizards, but not a Daddy Long legger. Oh no, no, no. My brother's did the same thing when they were little and they would throw the moving legs on me. No way--they even smell gross. I remember this because they would dangle them over my face. It was tough being the--only girl with 3 older brothers and we lived out in the country with tons of outdoor creatures. I can move them out of the house--on a broom--but I avoid touching them at all costs. ;~) I like your photos--just not that type of bug.