Friggin alien in my bathroom!

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:35 am

I found this thing hanging out on my bathroom floor today, luckily before stepping on it. The body is about 2 inches long, the antennae a little longer than that. It either climbed 8 feet up a wall and came in through a window that was cracked open or it pushed open the cat door and came in that way. I'm not sure which possibility freaks me out more.

The picture isn't great as I was squealing like a little girl, too afraid to get close even after I looked it up on the net and found out they aren't dangerous and can't fly.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:56 am

Joshua Cricket?
Or a Vinagerone?

either way...
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!~

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:28 am

As far as I can tell it was a tree weta. I've been in New Zealand for 2 months but most of that time I was in the city so this is the first one I've seen up close.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:33 am

Oh shit!
You're in New Zealand?

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:27 am

Maybe it's a weta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weta

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:29 am

a W[eta]TF?

Post by **Elderberry** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:33 am

I don't much like bugs in the house--and that one would have freaked me out enough to have the whole house tented after I squished it.

JK

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:01 am

i had a cricket in here last night ... damn things are so loud, i can hear them even with my ipod blasting ... grrrr ... but just as i was going to bed the thing headed for my front door, i opened it up, and he hopped out! i hate squishing them ...

but the weta ... you have my sympathies, dork! yikes

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:45 pm

It's an earwig. I used to live in an apartment and every fall when it started getting cool they would find their way inside forcing me to hunt the little bastards down. Let me tell you, laying in bed, reaching over and turning on the bedside lamp to find one on the pillow inches from you face, it's enough to regress me to wetting the bed

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:26 pm

Pretty sure it's a weta, and I didn't squish it - they're important to the ecosystem here so I swept it out the door. It seemed a little annoyed at being moved but was completely unafraid of me or the broom.

I did live in a place with earwigs once. Woke up once with one crawling across the back of my neck! Not cool.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:20 pm

I am not sure how or if this applies but....

It's Not a Tumor - Doctors Find Worm In Woman's Brain Instead

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455067,00.html

Apollonaris Zeus · Post by **Apollonaris Zeus** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:23 pm

What did it taste like?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:42 pm

It's probably distracting enough hanging onto the earth to keep from falling off.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:17 am

wedeliver wrote:I am not sure how or if this applies but....

It's Not a Tumor - Doctors Find Worm In Woman's Brain Instead

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,455067,00.html

Didn't that happen on House M.D.? Isn't that show on Fox? I smell a rat...

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:05 am

Fox news so likely a fake story, but these things do happen, more commonly in the flesh and in other countries.

Australia is interesting because it seems like a slice of europe somehow, but is really a tropical paradise for creepie crawlies.

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:55 pm

ummm, the weta hangs out in new zealand. did this guy catch the red eye across the pond? LOL bugs are ok for birds and others who enjoy their taste (Andrew Zimmer) but I can do without them

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 7:08 am

Could be this. We always found these things growing up. We called them potatoe bugs, but then we found the real name,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cricket

They were mentioned before with a slight name error so it would be hard to find.