Nibbles Woodaway - The Big Blue Bug - Providence, Rhode Island
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N 41° 48.432 W 071° 24.334
19T E 300169 N 4631167
The Big Blue Bug has been a Rhode Island landmark since 1980. Also known as Nibbles Woodaway, the giant termite advertises a local pest control business along Interstate 95 in Providence.
Waymark Code: WM14B6B
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 06/03/2021
Views: 8
The Big Blue Bug has been a Rhode Island landmark since 1980. Also known as Nibbles Woodaway, the giant termite advertises a local pest control business from a perch atop the headquarter's rooftop along Interstate 95 in Providence. Formerly named New England Pest Control (now Big Blue Bug Solutions since 2012), Leonard and Stephan Goldman, the founder and his son, worked with artist George Cardono to create the behemoth. It was built by Avenia Sign Company of North Providence.
Big Blue Bug Fast Facts:
- Species: Subterranean Termite (Reticulitermes flavipes)
- Height: 9 feet
- Length: 58 feet
- Diameter: 6 feet
- Body Length: 32 feet
- Four Wings: 40 feet (folded over in pairs)
- Antennae: 7 feet
- Legs: 11 feet
- Weight: 4000 pounds
- Material: Steel and fiberglass
- Original Cost: $20,000
- Stands: 30 feet above ground
It made appearances in the movies “Dumb and Dumber” and “Dumb and Dumber To”; on television shows The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Daily Show, and Family Guy; in the comic strips Zippy the Pinhead and Bosquet; on a Rhode Island scratch-off lottery ticket in 1997; and in 2002 was the featured finale of Bristol Fourth of July Parade, the oldest Independence Day celebration in the United States.
It took me over a year, but I finally got the chance to take some pictures of Nibbles Woodaway...wearing her face mask according CDC guidelines to show support for the health and safety of the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Two Big Blue Bug Solutions (formerly New England Pest Control, until 2012) employees were walking toward the building at the same time as me -- I was only half-joking when I asked if they could get me up to the roof for some pictures! (Spoiler Alert: They chuckled and I didn't make it to the roof, though we exchanged a friendly wave on my way back to the car after snapping my pictures.)
Sources:
Wikipedia
Big Blue Bug Solutions
Google Sightseeing