I have cane I need to get rid of and I am hopeing to do it organically. Does anyone know how to get rid of the stuff? Seems you would have to dig to china and back to get rid of it that way.

And just a little funny. My soon to be 14 year old son and I were stacking wood today and there was this wolf spider. Now being the mature countrysider I am, I was not going to let it bother me. As long as I can see where it is it will be ok (is what I am thinking.)

Well all of the sudden I could not see where it had gotten. Then I noticed it was on my shoulder. AAAAHHHHH! I started swinging an flailing around and then I felt it hit the back of my shirt collar. Well needless to say next thing I know I am not wearing a shirt! I would have been afraid of scaring my son for life. Except he is still laughing everytime he sees me. HE-HE-HE! Oh well maybe you had to be there to appreciate the humor in it. As for me it is a lot funnir now that I look back on it. SPIDERS!AAHH!

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 19, 2000

Answers

Bonnie, my shirt and clothes would have been off if I couldn't find the wolf spider. They have a very mean bite and some people have to go to the dr. after a bite. I still ahve a scar on my neck where I got bit about 7 years ago. lynne

-- lynne (leaves8@hotmail.com), September 19, 2000.

dang itBonnie i always miss ever thing.But just what is a wolfe spider never heard of um before.Bob in s.e. ks.

-- Bob Condry (bobco@hit.net), September 19, 2000.

Is that one of those huge, hairy suckers that jumps out at you?! Dang, I hate those things. Once did battle with one under my Hoosier cabinet for near two weeks. He finally got a little too brave at charging me and I swatted him with the broom. I DON'T CARE IF THEY DO EAT BUGS!!! They can go eat bugs outside!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), September 19, 2000.

http://www.insects.org/entophiles/arthropoda/arth_en003.html

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), September 19, 2000.

Those damn spiders! It's practically the only thing I dislike about country living. I laughed when I read your account because it reminded me of some jigs I have done with spiders on or some I've seen other people do (which of course were alot funnier). I was thinking of putting cane in as a quick growing privacy screen. I guess you would advise against it but why? I don't mean to sound naive. Thanks Ev

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), September 19, 2000.

Bob, this was a ( seemed larger at the time) large brown spider that jumps and moves VERY fast. They are notorious for being in wood piles.They have what looks like angs on them. They look like they would bite. OOOOOHHHH! The hair is standing up on the back of my neck just talking about it! I have had them in my house from time to time. Once I saw this big spider going down the hall. Not wanting to use spray and stink the whole house up ( mind you this was about 11:30 one night) I decided to get the fly swatter. ( It was too big to step on ) OOOOOOH! OOOOOOOH!! I hit that thing and babies spiders flew every where. Seemed like hundreds of them! Did I say I don't like spiders?

Evelyn, as far as the cane goes. That stuff would make a good screen! Be sure you want it though. I have tried digging it out twice now and it keeps comeing back. I wouldn't hate it so much if it weren't where I want to put something else. It's right in the corner of my garden.I personally have no use for it and don't like the looks of it. To say it is invasive would be an understatement.Wish I knew a way to kill it.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 20, 2000.

The other day, my friend (loathes & fears spiders) was cleaning in her barn. A giant spider crawled across her hand, and she freaked. Her partner then attempted to save the day by smashing the spider with a big hammer. Unfortunately, my friend had not moved away far enough, and ended up with a face-full of spider guts from the exploding spider. Almost qualifies as "instant karma", huh? ;)

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), September 20, 2000.

Don't know about them spidroids, but as concerns the cane, next year get 2 weaner piggies. Fence the area around the cane and let them root. "End 'o' cane!" Besides, good eating in the fall! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), September 20, 2000.

Anyone else open that link that Kirk Davis sent. Yuck, what an ugly spider. Kind of looks like my ex mother-in-law in a bad mood. If I had one of those things crawling on me, I would probably be making some pretty fast moves myself.

-- Bill (sticky@2sides.tape), September 20, 2000.

Brad, great idea. But, this cane happens to be right close to my back door. Way too close for piggies. How long would it take a goat to do it if I had one or two of those? Would a goat eat cane??I guess they couldn't eat the roots though. Rats! Any other ideas?

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 20, 2000.

I had one of those big hairy suckers in my house tonight!! Actually my dog found it and I am glad she did. Unfortunately she didn't try to eat it or kill it so I had to. I mean kill it that is. I still can't believe that thing was in my house!!! UGH.

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), September 20, 2000.

Bonnie, how would it work to cover the whole area with a rubberized tarp?

-- Darrell Schlueter (schlut@adams.net), September 20, 2000.

I recognize that little monster, one of those wound up in bed with me the other night. When I rolled over and found myself nose to nose with it, I let out a squeal that just about scared my poor sleeping husband right out onto the floor. I tossed it out the window. I don't mind them usually, but as a bedtime surprise,they are a bit much.

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), September 21, 2000.

Bonnie: My goats eat cane, but they don't like it as much as most things. I don't know how they'd do eating alot of it. My horses enjoy it in the winter, but if they eat too much, their stools get sort of mucous-y.

-- Teresa (otgonz@bellsouth.net), September 24, 2000.

When we first moved to the country I had a close encounter with a wood spider. I don't know the scientific name for them but they are big, black and have a hard body that makes them tough to kill with the first whack. This thing was the biggest spider I had ever seen in reall life and it was between the vapor barrier and insulation in the basement. I had been throwing ina a washer load of clothes before leaving for work when I saw it. I backed away and began stummbling and lurching for the stairs and hyperventilating. i was trying to scream for my husband but it was just coming out as gasps and I struggled for breath and got lightheaded on the stairs. i was convinced that if I turned around it would be there after me so I kept going. Finally I ran through the kitchen and out doors and screamed "SpiderSpiderSpider" like a gibbering idiot. My husband thought I had lost my mind...LOL But when he saw it Mr.Bravery was a bit spooked too! It took awhile to kill it (sorry arachnid lovers) and we still talk about it 4 years later! He found a smaller one in our kitchen last winter but didn't tell me until it was dead. my screams might have woken the baby. LOL Oh we have these black and yellow spiders in our fields and gardens and some times they have a spot of blue on 'em. They can get pretty big and I am told they can give a nasty bite..anyone know what they are? Alison in Nova Scotia

-- Alison Proteau (aproteau@istar.ca), September 25, 2000.

Oh -- Alison! I don't know what those are, but they sound like a spider that an entomologist friend of mine identified as fairly poisonous, when pointing one out in a bush in Columbus OH.

I had an encounter with a big spider we call a Wood Spider around here, about 1 1/2 long that was hanging out around my front door and I thought great, next stop is my bedroom in the middle of the night. At that moment a yellowjacket flew up to the little stalk I hadn't noticed while staring at the spider and the spider *snatched* the yellowjacket and ate it. The yellowjackets were starting a nest there.A while later, I saw her do it again, and said "bon appetite" and went about my business. When the yellowjackets stopped coming, she went back into the woods. We were both happy.

I don't know much about cane, but I do know that my sister-in-law paid a HUGE amount for a privacy screen made out of cane held together with twisted wire. You might start a cottage industry and sell them to upscale landscapers!

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), September 25, 2000.

If you don't like spiders and other creepy things, don't move to central Arkansas. I was walking my dog early one morning and this thing the diameter of a baseball raises her front 2 legs at me. Now, I'm not too swift early in the morning, just let habit take over, but this critter got my full attention and wakefullness immediately. It was my first experience with tarantulas! I refer to her as female because in the fall they migrate to find a place to hibernate. I saw several in the 4 years we were there but the worst experience was the day I couldn't avoid one on the paved road. It felt like my full size pickup had struck a decent sized stone! Believe it or not, I felt lucky because the area about 10 miles north of us had scorpions too. I was told they weren't poisonous, just felt like a wasp if one stung you. Fine. I'll pass on that one too. Each year we were there I killed a copperhead within 10' of the house except for the one that was in the barn. One of the goat kids was about to smell it and since I had no tool in my hand, I stomped it to death. Okay, stupid, I'll admit, but I liked that goat. I also had on heavy rubber boots and the snake was under 10" long. While we were there, I was told that nearly all counties in Arkansas could boast (boast?) a population of alligators. We also had enough bears in our area to justify a hunting season and that's just a few more than I like, thanks. Boy, was I glad to move back to Missouri, except that the Arkansas bears are finding their way north too.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), September 25, 2000.

God! How I love Maine! No poisonous snakes (actually venomous - I think you could eat any of them with no ill effects), no scorpions, alligators, nasty spiders, anacondas, chiggers, or yetis. Oh sure, the occassional black bear, amorous moose, or cat-hungry coyote. And the black fly is, after all, the state bird. But pretty much we have docile wildlife. In fact, we have 2 colonies of bald-faced bees within 50 yards of the house, and although they are considered "defensive", we have watched them from 3 feet and they appear docile indeed. Allison, those black and yellow field spiders are "good guys"! As a kid, (back before color was invented) I used to make "pets" of them! Also threw grasshoppers into their webs just to watch! Guess that puts me on the s-list for all you grasshopper fans! Anyway, Good Luck to All!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), September 26, 2000.

Marilynn, You must have lived where I do. You described our place to a T except for ( THANK YOU GOD! ) I have not seen any alligators. Although I do protest that even though it was dark I saw one while washing a skillet in the river. He-he! My husband says it was not an alligator,and that it was a gar ( that's a fish ) Well as big as it was and as close as it was it might as well have been an alligator. That thing could eat a person. That was the last time I went camping.We left a 2:30 am after my husband told me he did not know what that was our little dog was barking at. Except that it was not a hooved animal. AHHHHH! Told him he could stay there but I was takeing my little Missy dog and I was going home! That was the first and last time we ever went camping.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), September 26, 2000.