I used to live in that neighborhood and it was spider-central.Of course I just realzed that the slight sound I've been hearing near me is a mouse below my desk running past my feet,so I have a new enemy!Can't complain too much though,because a friend is being over-run by raccoons.

Ginger- I just went and looked at pictures of brown recluses and  you're right I don't think it was one. This spider was hairy, an all light brown color and very large. It wasn't quite as large as a tarantula. It wasn't a wolf spider as I have seen my fair share of those, besides it was bigger.

Countygirl-are you sure it was a brown recluse?I wasn't sure if we had them here yet,I've heard stories,but it's Tehachapi,you always hear stories....

Last night one of those sunspiders ran at me while I was sitting on the floor,I jumped and yelped,and I'm not one of those "screaming types!"

Storilori-glad to hear that the insects are at least visible!By the way,my youngest swears that when he takes his shirt off,the air makes him itch.Makes no sense at all to me!Glad to hear that you are beautifying your space and recycling at the same time-bites or no bites.

My brothers have caught a few tarantulas here over the years. I almost died the other day. I was at my parents house and my brother went to take a shower there was a HUGE brown recluse(sp?) spider in the tub! Ewwwwwwww! He came out and was like, "You've got to come see this!"  It took like 5 min for my chills to stop! lol It's the first time I've actually seen one!

I stayed in the truck...I'm not kidding when I say there were 1000's of them. It looked as though the road itself was undulating. Full body shiver here...and I don't mind spiders as a rule! 

Tarantulas?!!! I would have died on the spot!!!  

Coming home from a camping trip many many moons ago, I can't remember where we were but a little voice is saying somewhere in Kern County...it must've been tarantula mating season. There were 1000's all headed the same direction, and 1000's of them squished on the road. My brother pulls to the side of the road, picks one up and places it on the hood of the truck. He bends down to get a closer look...I couldn't resist, I honked the horn. I don't know who jumped higher - him or the spider.

Ahhhh, Madkow - you hit a turtle? That's one of my totem animals...   :( 

Joty, I was calling ME the loser, not you silly! Did you get the email? So, you did get it? The lion one?   I'm editing this, I just checked my emails.

Sushi, that's way better than the license plate game, IMO!  LOL!!

Madkow, when my dad was teaching me to drive we'd take long drives into nowhere and play "Road Kill Bingo." You have to ID the road kill in the proper order. First you have to earn your "B" for bear, beaver or "bloody," if the mamals just aren't dying to play along. The driver has the advantage of getting a "Free B" by knocking something down. Of course the passenger has to confirm the road kill. I just know the animal lovers are going to hate me for this one... ;  )  But we never purposely went after our own road kill...I swear. You can bank letters if you ID three straight non-Bingo roadkills, like armadillo, lizzard, snake. If you just can't find any decomposing Night Owls, or Newts, or Gators or Gorillas, you fall back to the descriptives like "Icky, Nasty, Gory, and Odiferous."     &nb sp;  

Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the posting of this comment.

I like that when you hit a bunch of fireflies, they still glow on your windshield for a minute, these weird green globs all over the place.  :)  Texas was the weirdest place for roadkill though.  I hit bats, an owl, frogs, a turtle, to name a few.  I almost hit some wild pigs and turkeys too.  Eww, but the spiders... A lot of the rest areas have open bathrooms, so there were frequently spiders as big as your hand sitting right on the side of the toilet!  Not the thing you want to find out about after you've already sat down!

I'm ok with most bugs/insects/spiders - but not grasshoppers. No grasshoppers!!!!  

You should see the glowing bugs they grow in Mexico...I found one that had two huge, green headlights on the top of its head. It was a black beetle type creature, about an inch long.

Bizarre!

I lived in Nashville for three years, and had never seen a firefly or heard a cicada before that.  It was so neat to see fireflies floating waist high over the fields!  And the cicadas, I loved listening to them fill the trees.

Just sent you an email...

I have never seen a firefly...or a fly fire.