Flies, mosquitos and bees....oh my! We all get the occasional house fly buzzing around each spring when the doors and windows are first opened. Although for some strange reason, they don't appear to be a problem where we currently live. Growing up in New England, on the same street as a dairy farm, it was unlikely that we wouldn't have a couple annoying flies in the house from time to time. Also, in the dead of summer, no matter how good your screens usually kept them at bay, you could always count on a few mosquitos finding that pin hole opening, as they'd come blood sucking in the middle of the night. How many times have you woken out of a dead sleep, only to hear that persistent buzzing around your ears that signaled a pesky little critter was coming in for the kill??? And in the fall, right around apple picking season, the bees would be out in droves, and when they weren't hanging around the garbage cans, they'd be popping in and out of the windows, always trying to find their way back outside. It always seemed that they really didn't want to be inside....you wanted them out as much as they wanted to GET out.
I've always been a bit uncomfortable about killing insects...they are after all, each and every one of them, a living thing. And as the history and discovery channel like to remind us...they've been here on this planet just a "bit" longer than us two-legged creatures. Keeping that in mind, in quite a few instances of my "close encounters of the kritter kind" I try to gently escort them from the premises and silently suggest they'd be more comfortable elsewhere.
There are however, a few little creatures, that actually do make my skin crawl, and they, unfortunately do not have the pleasure of experiencing my otherwise live-and-let-live approach to removal. If memory serves me correctly, I became a fearless hunter (well almost, but it sure sounded good), when we first returned stateside from Germany, to live in what felt like the outback desert of Lawton, Oklahoma. Who knew so many new forms of annoying pests were soon going enter my life. First on the list of unwelcome guests....field mice. We moved into a newly built condo, which had a construction site next door. Those poor little mice had been ousted from their expansive field, and conveniently decided to take up residence at the next door neighbors.....I don't think so!!! I'll never forget how I discovered them one day...the food in my pantry seemed to be disappearing, one bite at a time. The cheetos where no longer long slim poofs of orange goodness...they now resembled a disfigured finger, with little nibbles taken out of all sides. YIKES....I had a new born baby upstairs...war was declared...and happy (just a little sorry) to say, we were victorious in battle.
Next stop, finally at the top of the waiting list for government quarters....we move on post...with a small baby and 2 year old toddler. Ah yes...a duplex....what resides next door....comes over to visit from next door, and I'm not referring to the nice couple that lived there. If you've never had the pleasure of living in military housing...well you aren't missing much except for a very inexpensive place to hang your hat. Another little critter, that I'm told has been in existence since the beginning of time, had taken up residence (which waiting list were they on I wonder???) in our small two bedroom home. Welcome to the world of cockroaches leaving trails of little brown spots across your counters and dishes. I had a crash course into the world of roach bombs, fumigation, and exterminators....once again, let the battle begin. I was instantly recalled for duty into the war against creepy crawly insects. I was a mother on a mission, and I didn't rest until each and every one of them was gone. It didn't sadden me one bit when we eventually left the Midwest and returned to the hills of New England three years later.
During the next two decades, we had our share of sugar ants, tree spiders, and assorted critters...it all goes hand in hand with living in the country. Unless I find an insect on my food or in my cupboards, I'm pretty lenient and we find a way to co-exist. Except of course in the case of fleas on my precious cats, then I'm once again called into battle. However, over the years, I'd educated myself in the ways of the war on pests, and discovered some non-toxic resolutions to the problem. I resorted to diatomaceous earth, which is scattered around the house and powdered onto the cats fur, as an alternative to chemicals. I was very pleased to find that this solution, nipped the problem right in the bud (forgive the pun--I'm told this is used on roses to rid them of beetles).
This brings me to how the initial idea for this post popped into my head...and believe me folks, even a fleeting thought, in a split second of time, can prompt me to fixate on a subject matter to write about in this blog.
As I stepped into the shower this weekend, there in the tub was a small spider...just clinging to the porcelain, doing whatever spiders do...certainly not hurting anyone or anything. I decided not to remove it, I figured If he survived my splashing about for the time it took me to complete my shower, he could just as well continue to hang out and either stay or find a drier spot to spend the day. I showered, he survived..and we parted ways. I've never been freaked out by spiders, and am in fact intrigued by some of the new creatures I was introduced to when we moved to Florida 10 years ago.
I am continually fascinated by the little geckos that run freely throughout this state. I actually think they are cute and have shooed a few out of our home at one time or another. I'm always sad to find a dead baby that somehow got caught and was not able to make its way out of something for whatever reason. One day at work, one found its way into the office and I was volunteered to remove it...no biggy, except they failed to mention that when you pick one up by the tail, it releases said tail...and runs away and you are left holding this wiggly little thing in your hand. Not only did I feel like I had just dissected something, but I still had to get that little trespasser out of the building.
Lastly, in all my travels I have never seen such strange looking creatures, which I am pleased to say, have NEVER been found to creep into our home, but reside pretty close by.
I see these "little" guys hanging out on the dock quite often, but have never been able to get close enough to snap a few pics. I had not noticed that they love jumping on the sail boat docked in our marina, until recently. After hanging out on the deck, they found a way to get down inside the boat...YIKES. I hate to see what the inside of that sail boat looks like after these neighborhood sqatters have taken over.
So, now you have been introduced to a few things that don't particularly BUG me :)
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