The World's Bravest Bugs

[3KillerBs]

Every time I open the access door of the chicken coop I see black, thumbnail sized bugs which I'm pretty sure are juvenile palmetto bugs scurrying into the cracks and crevasses.

I keep thinking, how are you things still alive?

Especially when you consider that a palmetto bug found in the pine straw starts an enthusiastic game of chicken football.

There's no point to fretting about them. Palmetto bugs come with the ecology of this area. I'm just amazed that they dare to live in a chicken coop full of predators who think of them as a marvelous snack.

(For those who don't live in the US southeast, palmetto bugs look like a black roach about 2-3 inches long. They are related to roaches, but are harmless -- but alarming -- forest-floor dwellers).

 

[mcdze]

the actual 'palmetto bug' here in florida has a natural defensive odor that chickens avoid .. they'll live in my coop if i let them to .. i usually about twice a year clean everything out and treat the entire coop from roof to floor the ground about 20ft around the coop and the bushes with 'bifen' while the girls are out ranging around .. it wont hurt them as long as it dries first and isnt in their food or water and controls mites, fleas, mosquitos, flies, the palmetto bugs and everything else residually .. good stuff ..

 

[rosemarythyme]

Every time I open the access door of the chicken coop I see black, thumbnail sized bugs which I'm pretty sure are juvenile palmetto bugs scurrying into the cracks and crevasses.

I keep thinking, how are you things still alive?

Especially when you consider that a palmetto bug found in the pine straw starts an enthusiastic game of chicken football.

This reminds me of a "game" here, for spiders and earwigs. We call it The Floor is Chicken (instead of lava). The chicken run is a great place for spiders to live, and they spin webs in droves around this time of year, but you can't fall, or the lava/chickens get you!

 

[3KillerBs]

This reminds me of a "game" here, for spiders and earwigs. We call it The Floor is Chicken (instead of lava). The chicken run is a great place for spiders to live, and they spin webs in droves around this time of year, but you can't fall, or the lava/chickens get you!

Chipotle, the California White, is quite athletic and makes life hard for any spider in jumping range.

I've seen her jump straight up -- no wings, just leg power (though she is also the best flyer) -- the height of her back to catch a bug in flight.