Ever had any issues with real bugs...? (Not software bugs, silly)

[GiGaBiTe]

I've had to clean out machines with mice, rats, full fire ant colonies, spiders, lizards, etc.

"my computer is running slow" (crazy cat lady)



"my computer is making weird buzzing noises" (mud daubers)

[NeXT]

Roaches infesting computers in storage are an all-too-common occurrence. I'm still waiting for someone to discover a nest of yellowjackets in their PC. I occasionally find a dead millipede in old equipment.

I got an Emax 1000 synthesizer keyboard for free years ago because the inside was PACKED with dead roaches and molted roach shells.

[computerdude92]

Ewww. Wacky stuff. Reading this thread I guess bugs can live happily inside computer towers without hurting it, and that it also really just depends on the device itself, like the story of the CRT that broke from the spider...

[Hugo Holden]

Rats seem to love to chew PVC insulation off wires, the Telecom people have a lot of issues with them. There was a story in Silicon Chip magazine a while back about a Rat that got into an outdoor Air Con unit. It chewed the insulation off the main line power feeds inside it, exposing the copper conductors thereby setting a trap for the next visitor, which was a snake. The snake got electrocuted and met its demise in the unit and was found still connected to the exposed wiring !

[1944GPW]

I don't have rats or mice but instead get geckos. Not the beautiful native ones but the asian house geckos that arrived in Brisbane about 40 years ago. These sure-footed little b*stards get into small holes in things, I've shaken gecko eggshells out of the motor on a small airbrush compressor in my shed, not to mention their droppings that they attach to horizontal and vertical surfaces. Things I want to protect get wrapped in plastic bags or placed close together to block vents. And just a few days ago a nursing home about 100 miles away had them in their air conditioning https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-...stems/11614038

[GiGaBiTe]

Ewww. Wacky stuff. Reading this thread I guess bugs can live happily inside computer towers without hurting it, and that it also really just depends on the device itself, like the story of the CRT that broke from the spider...

Not really. I've seen a few june bugs which lodged themselves inside cooling fans on CPU heatsinks and cause overheat issues. The feces and uric acid they leave behind also causes corrosion.

I don't have rats or mice but instead get geckos. Not the beautiful native ones but the asian house geckos that arrived in Brisbane about 40 years ago. These sure-footed little b*stards get into small holes in things, I've shaken gecko eggshells out of the motor on a small airbrush compressor in my shed, not to mention their droppings that they attach to horizontal and vertical surfaces. Things I want to protect get wrapped in plastic bags or placed close together to block vents. And just a few days ago a nursing home about 100 miles away had them in their air conditioning https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-...stems/11614038

We have our own version here, the Mediterranean Gecko. They started appearing in numbers about a decade ago and are everywhere now. They are both a blessing and a curse around here, they've eaten all of the bugs and dangerous spiders that used to plague our front and back porch, but have replaced it with gecko poop and egg casings. It's better than having random spiders dropping on you at night when you walk outside and freaking out trying to get them off. Some of the spiders we have here are very big, up to 3" across and are NOT fun falling on you in the dark.

I don't miss having to blast the front porch ceiling off every couple of weeks to get rid of what looked like halloween decorations from the spiders. The webbing would get so thick at times you couldn't even see the ceiling.

[Mr.Amiga500]

This thread reminds me of the scene from Phase IV (1974), where ants deliberately short out a computer.

[computerdude92]

Bugs couldn't cause ESD damage, being so small?

[krebizfan]

Bugs couldn't cause ESD damage, being so small?

Do a search for crazy ants and fire ants. Yes, it is possible to have the system short out if enough ants arrive. Don't forget the bad habits of stripping insulation and leaving acid around.

[compaqportableplus]

Years ago, I had a customer who'd retrieved a system that had sat for years in his attic loft. He powered it up, only to discover that it housed a nest of (what he believed) were brown recluse spiders. He was bitten several times and had to undergo lengthy and painful treatment for the venom.

That’s the stuff nightmares are made of! The thought of finding a nest of even non-venomous spiders is a computer terrifies me, but brown recluses? That would be absolute Hell. I think I would’ve needed mental treatment as well after that... Absolutely hate spiders.

This is why when I find an old computer that looks to have been stored garage or shed type environment, I’m always very cautious with it until I know what’s inside. A brown recluse byte is nothing to joke around about. They can move fast as hell too.