London's Insect Population

[teknikal]

I'm a student at UWO and I live in London for most of the year.

What the hell is with all these bugs? When I first moved into the basement apartment last fall, these freaky spiders kept appearing everywhere. Yeah, I hate spiders.

And every so often, there are these huge, brown, ugly centipededs that run around at like 50 km/hour. Last night, I was up late studying, and I got up from my desk, turned around to go to the bathroom and there was this huge nasty centipede on the wall right behind my head!

These are worse than spiders.

I never get all these bugs at my house in Mississauga. We get some spiders in the house every once in a while, but not to this extent.

And at first, I thought it might've been a basement thing, but then I recalled that the the townhouse I was living in during the summer got spiders and centipedes on the upper floors too.

I know there are quite a few UWO kids here who have experienced living in London and their own home towns. Do you find that London has way more insects crawling around inside your apartments?


teknikal

 

[xtollo]

And all this time I thought London was this posh urbanized cityscaped metropolis. But meanwhile it was really the ghetto!!

Don't panic until the centipedes start outnumbering the frosh at the rideout.

 

[teknikal]

hahhahaha

i thought a possible reason is that london's out in the middle of nowhere? i know london has a problem with rabbits or something like that, or at least that's what my land lady told me.

the first time i ever saw a wild rabbit was when i first moved here last year. it was a strange sight.

 

[Spinsah]

My house has been invaded by little fucking potato bugs.

It's not as bad as centipides but pretty annoying nevertheless.

 

[teknikal]

yeah, we get the potato bugs too. and earlier, those damn ladybugs--but then those were in every city.

 

[Guest]

maybe you're just living in squalor?

 

[teknikal]

^ not really... my place is pretty good for student housing (at least in appearance), and i'm not messy.

shrug.

 

[daddyiwantchocolate]

Those horrible things are called "house centipedes". They're thoroughly revolting things. We found several in our apartment in London, then promptly moved out.

They're fast fuckers and when you smash them with a shoe, their legs fly off in all directions and they keep jumping for a few minutes.

They move up from damp basements in the summer, so you'll be seing lots of them now.

Have fun! *barf*

 

[Heat]

Spence, I think your red headed roomate is attracting all those potatoe bugs

 

[teknikal]

I'm dreading the day I have to move out.

I've got some boxes stored in a crawlspace under the stairs and I'm afraid there will be some huge centipede/spider/potato bug bonanza inside one of them.

 

[Bass-Invader]

i like potato bugs.
they are fun to roll around.

 

[Skipper]

Originally posted by xtollo
And all this time I thought London was this posh urbanized cityscaped metropolis. But meanwhile it was really the ghetto!!

Don't panic until the centipedes start outnumbering the frosh at the rideout.

I wouldn't know how to tell a centipede from a frosh even if I did go to the Ridout....

I haven't found any of those kinds of bugs you mention, but I did have a brutal problem with fruit flies last summer. The heat was unbearable, and if you didn't wash your dishes as soon as the food was eaten off them, you had a plate sized breeding ground for the fuckers to do their business in. So nasty.

You're bound to have more bug problems if you're in the basement since, well, your apartment is under ground. Multiply this by about 10 if the building/house is old since the foundation probably has cracks in it.

I know London had a ladybug problem too for a bit. Not to mention the rabbits.....but at least the rabbits were cute.

 

[teknikal]

Last summer WAS brutal, especially without air conditioning.

I can totally picture that fruit fly scenario.

I remember the heat wave.... I walked over to the Beckers down the street to stock up on drinks, and by the time I got back to my townhouse I felt like I had been sprayed with mist.

It was pretty gross.

Hmm.. the house I'm in right now is about 50 years old. Would that be considered old?

 

[teknikal]

p.s. I hate the ridout

 

[KiX]

We still have a gazillion ladybugs around.

=tina=

 

[Skipper]

Originally posted by teknikal
Hmm.. the house I'm in right now is about 50 years old. Would that be considered old?

Yeah, I'd say so. It also depends on the people who rent it out to you - they probably bought the house and turned it into student housing assuming the basement was fine....which it is, I'm not saying the foundation of the house you live in is going to cave in on you or anything, just that with houses that old the foundation often shifts a little. Bugs seem to like the company of humans, hence your new critter friends.

Teknikal - what program are you in at UWO?

 

[teknikal]

One of those things bit me on the neck last fall... damn vampire ladybugs.

I don't plan on living in a basement apartment ever again, if I can help it. Not only would I like to get rid of my new critter friends, I can't stand a lot of the things that come with living in a basement e.g. dripping sounds above my head whenever someone uses a sink/shower, loud walking above my head (creaky floor boards), feeling like i'm living in a cave, ticking sounds from the furnace, etc. but maybe i'm just spoiled.

next year i'm going to have real windows! score.

I'm currently finishing my 2nd year of ACS, you?

 

[Mr_Furious]

all this time I thought it said "incest"

and I only had to look at it a million times before I realized

hooked on phonics worked for me

 

[Spinsah]

Originally posted by Heat
Spence, I think your red headed roomate is attracting all those potatoe bugs

Actually I'm pretty sure it's the dirty wop who lives at the end of the hall.

 

[blueker]

^uh...do you guys know each other?

 

[teknikal]

Originally posted by Mr_Furious
all this time I thought it said "incest"

hahahaha.. "london's incest population".

that could actually work.. considering what our townies are like

 

[Spinsah]

Olga...Heat is my housemate.

So yes I do know him.

Unfortunately.

 

[SneakyPete]

Do I know Heat?

Pete

 

[labRat]

every day for the last few days the back of my house is covered in bugs ... sorta look like baby mosquitos or somethin'. they also cover the door, so i have to quickly open and slam the door to get them off and then open the door to go in the house.

the frogs have also thawed out and are croaking like motherfukkers ... they're lookin' for some fine froggy ass. i say they head on over to fiasco's.

and a robin tried to make a nest on my porch pillar thing. i stopped that from happening ... pulled down the half finished nest and sprayed the area with Febreeze. even robin's don't like the smell of that shit.

spring time is among us.

--craig

 

[Spinsah]

Originally posted by SneakyPete
Do I know Heat?

Pete

Yup.

Heat=Jeff