Horseflies, Spiders, Scorpions, Wasps, and Ants

[May 13, 2025]  The average kid who lives his life outside, playing in his yard or neighborhood, is usually much more aware of their surroundings and more stable emotionally. Despite the fear they have of the dangers of spending their time outside, they seem also to have a more realistic and accurate view of themselves and others.  This article is about my challenges growing up with horseflies, spiders, wasps, and scorpions.

As a kid, I discovered the hard way that some insects can bite and sting, and some are poisonous. If you happen to live in the Southern or Southwestern states, you will have encountered many of them and know each for the pain they can inflict. You also know where they are commonly found and avoid them when possible.

What is the importance of a kid knowing about stinging and biting insects?  We can all agree that the world is a dangerous place. Calamadies await at every turn. Disasters happen that are beyond human control or, in some cases, totally unpredictable.

Discovering that insects can hurt them is an introduction to the real world for kids. This awareness is the beginning of gaining the strength to adapt and overcome; characteristics of those who will live a sane, moral, useful, and responsible life.

What follows is a walk-through of some of the fears of me as a little kid growing up around insects that caused me pain. Avoiding pain is a natural condition and so is fear. But fear can have widely divergent results. For example, fear can be a motivator or a deterrent. Pain avoidance is a psychological trait that can impact one’s view of the world if not properly dealt with up front.

“Damn it, that hurt.”  This was the first time I’d ever heard my dad curse. He’d gotten nailed by a horsefly, and a bite from one of those is enough to make a religious priest curse.  My brother and me seemed to be in places these critters called home, and they fanatically defended their home and surrounding territory. Running away was always a useful, but not guaranteed, tactic to get away. Hornets were the worst, their sting was bad enough but they usually attacked in groups and could fly faster than I could run. Heaven forbid you accidentally disturbed one of their nests.

Horseflies were common where we lived since we were close to cattle ranges, horse corrals, and pig farms. I tried everything I could think of to repel those little buggers, including swallowing lots of raw garlic, rubbing my skin with my mom’s night cream moisturizer, wearing light-colored clothing, and holding a religious blessed cross in my right hand. I tested each one and the failure was painful.

One day when I was not yet a teenager, I was bitten by a brown recluse spider on my leg. That sneaky, dirty little bugger came at me from where I couldn’t see him. It was a classic ambush. I yelled, mostly out of fear. The neighbor called the town sheriff. Next thing I know there’s flashing lights in my front yard; oh, the embarrassment.  I could barely talk because of my fear of being handcuffed and thrown in jail.  If that ever happened, I’d better not call my parents; they would rather just let me rot in jail.  The brown recluse is a poisonous spider, sometimes called the fiddle-back or reaper is one to avoid. Scary.

After we moved to Southeast Texas, it came with lots of additional critters. The scorpions and tarantulas were the hardest to adapt to. The tarantulas were large and frightening but mostly harmless. What put fear into our hearts was the scorpion. Dad told us after we wake up each morning to always check the inside of your shoes for them, a favorite hiding place. Their stinger contains a toxic venom that hurts bad and lasts for hours. One morning, our younger sister came running and screaming from her room. She’d spotted one.  I ran it down and crushed it with one of my mom’s high heels.

I’m still a little scared of wasps. They come in many varieties but their sting still hurts. For a kid, it seems, the pain is more intense. Wasps buzz around their nest when agitated so it’s smart to simply not get close. But I regularly would test out my courage and would throw dirt clods at their nests. Once they spotted you trying that stunt, the race was on. Do this without a shirt like I did. Winning the race is fun. Losing, not so much.

One day I’m standing in our Texas home driveway and I feel something hot on my foot. I looked down and there were hundreds of little red, fire ants attacking my foot. They don’t sting, they bite and hang on. I had to brush and pull them off.  Welts developed where I’d been bitten.  And I don’t even know what I did to stir them up. My brother laughed at me for being stupid. I don’t like fire ants but maybe I could use them for a future prank on my cousins or my brother. Then I’d be even.

I found that biting and stinging insects could be part of my life that made it better!  The insects were part of the adventures of life. Like running from a destroyed wasp nest. Or out swimming a poisonous snake. Or figuring out how to stop the pain of an insect sting. Knowledge grows. Adventures grow. And, a little kid grows and matures into someone that can be relied upon.

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Please read my books:

1. “55 Rules for a Good Life,” on Amazon (link here).
2. “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).