a grasshopper!! It was one of those black and yellow ones. He was at work yesterday and went to go put in a line at someones house, and this grasshopper sprayed him in the face!! He said that his face started to burn and his eyes hurt really bad. He couldn't see for a little bit. He said it almost felt like acid. We tried to find out about it on the internet, and couldn't find anything. Does anyone know anything about this?

He is fine now, BTW.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 11:45 am:

I have never heard of this..at first I thought you wrre going to say skunk!
Glad he is doing better.

By Janet on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 11:55 am:

I never knew they could do that! Whoa...

By Amy~moderator on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 11:56 am:

Wow! I've never heard of that either! You may be able to call a local university's biology department and ask them. I'm curious to know! I am glad he is feeling better though

By Cybermommyx4 on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 04:04 pm:

Tell DH: Don't worry, honey, that grasshoppper was a "lubber", not a fighter.....LOL!

Lumbering Lubbers
by Jerome A. Jackson

Among Florida’s grasshoppers and crickets is a lumbering giant — the southeastern lubber grasshopper that is found across the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida and into the Carolinas. I love the common name of this creature: lubber—a term that has been defined as a heavy, clumsy, or awkward fellow—or as a clown. When you encounter one of these two- to three-inch long grasshoppers you’ll understand why it has been given such a name. It is heavy—big for a grasshopper. It’s also very slow moving—it doesn’t get out of the way very quickly and doesn’t seem to care.

Adult lubber grasshoppers are distinctively marked with brown, black, yellow, and red—they seem as colorful and sometimes as comical as a circus clown, but color patterns vary from region to region and with age of the grasshopper. In southwest Florida adults are mostly yellow with red and black markings. Young are black with a prominent yellow stripe down the middle of the head and back, and as they grow they add a bit of red. They are so different in appearance from adult lubbers that they have sometimes been thought of as a different species. Whatever the pattern, those contrasting colors serve as a warning for the lubber’s enemies. If the colors aren’t enough, the lubber can back them up with a menacing hiss (totally harmless), an irritating, foamy spray, and chemicals within its body that are enough to make predators think twice before ever trying one again.

By Audreyj on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 04:45 pm:

Goodness! Learn something new every day, huh?
Hope your DH is okay. Sounds like he probably will be....AJ

By Dana on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 05:33 pm:

Ewwww, that is just too gross. I hate those bugs!!!!! My least favorite of all I would think....roaches are right there with them. I never knew they could spray. Thank goodness I never got sprayed. I had a yard full when I bought my first house. I chopped them in half w/ the loppers (big shears). I loppered the lubbers I guess. And do you know what? They continued to live even without the bottom half of there body. So so gross.

By Rayanne on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 - 05:46 pm:

Thanks Wendy. I will show DH this when he gets home.

By Dana on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - 12:29 pm:

Rayanee, each time I glimpse over your post title, I keep reading "DH got Spayed!" I just get such a tickle each time I do that. Oh the simple things that make us smile.

By Rayanne on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - 01:32 pm: