Because of the unusually dry season we've had a bunch of very unwanted visitors.
Ants invaded our home beginning the middle of the summer, burrowing into the insulation of the bedroom addition roof, and making it trickle down like tiny snowflake-like drifts in a few places. No sooner than Excy sprays the area outside, getting it under control, than they start anew on some other area. It seems a bad game. I will be ready for the cooler weather, which seems to make them disappear.
The 'coons shed their fleas under the screened-in porch, apparently, and no amount of spraying there has seemed to eradicate them for good. The cats are strictly indoors, but love their porch. We're on the second round of frontline, soon to be the third, and though the fleas aren't in the house anymore and activity seems to be more under control, it's still annoying. Using the flea comb on them can continue to be an unpleasant surprise, and only Lenny likes it, seeming to think of it as a grooming treat.
The latest, and most dramatic, of the creepy-crawlies, however, made its appearance two weeks ago and we have had four in the house the past two weeks. Not sure what is going on. The last time we saw them was eight years ago when we were building the addition and the ground was disturbed, which drives them up.
Brace yourselves: scorpions.
Freak. Me. Out. SCORPIONS. Even the name sounds aggresive.
They are so primitive, strutting along with those pinchers and cocked tail, ready to sting with that dangling stinger. So ugly.
#1 was dead in the utility room, so the location didn't freak me out too much.
#2 did freak me out, since I was watching TV when I spied Lenny batting at something in the hallway and when I examined the find, I was afraid he'd get stung. Plus, it's a scorpionn...euuwww...
#3 was the scariest find, because I was barefoot in the bedroom addition, and the floor is stained black tile, and it was night, so dark, when I caught a movement inches from my bare toes. Boy did I scream. The boys didn't come running. I don't make a habit of screaming, so what does that say?? Excy finally came when I called in a shaky voice, to his credit.
#4 was in the kitchen, last night, and Excy saw it when he wandered in to see why all four cats were hanging around.
It's Excy's job, by the way, to kill all creepy-crawlies. Mine is to freak and scream like a little girl.
I don't mind bugs outdoors, but when they are in my house, they must die. Unless they are 'good' bugs, like walking sticks or a praying mantis...they seem to have the good sense to remain outside, anyway.
I thought I had the motherlode of horror until my SIL told me this weekend she had been stung by a scorpion IN BED recently. They find them in their shower on occasion, and a few nights before she was in bed and stretched out her leg and something stung her on the foot! When she threw the covers back and saw what it was she said she hobbled down the hall to get Steve to come kill it. The real kicker, to me, is she got back in bed and went to sleep!
Burrrrr.....I would've been flinching and throwing back the sheets every 10 minutes. Happy dreams...
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7 comments:
Gee, thanks, now my imagination will be in overdrive. We've had horrible issues with ants. They come in the hall bathroom window, to get to the water. BIG ants!
When I was young, we were traveling to NC and had stopped at a gas station that had some chickens running around. I saw one swallow a scorpion and go into all kinds a fits and gyrations, before falling over dead. Scared the poop outta me!
Holy Crap, where do you live??? I can handle the ants, and have dealt with fleas but Scorpians??? That is from a horror film. This summer we didn't get the ants too badly. I know what not to keep in my basement pantry now. Everything in glass. In Toronto in the 90's I had Weavels. Came with some rice from the food co-op and I had them for years.
I'm glad I read this in the morning and not before walking upstairs to bed. :)
Scorpions are scary. The cat doesn't seem to mind them, though.
Ewwwyuck! Looks like it's time to move. I've been able to get a handle on my arachnophobia, except in the case of really big spiders. And scorpions. My folks said we had them around our old house when it was first built, but they had been vanquished by the time I came along.
Yikes, when did you move to Florida? That sounds almost like tropical infestation.
Watch those ants, they can do almost the amount of damage as termites. I had to get an exterminator for my guest house.
Arizona is home of the scorpions. I don't have it too bad but my sister lives at the base of a mountain called Scorpion Hill. Something she didn't discover until it was way too late.
Oh man. I could relate until scorpions. EEK! Freak. Me. Out. Too! We've been having issues first with ants (my sister and her husband had to attack their nest, which sucks because ants are a struggling breed. But they had taken over our house.) and then with fleas. I had never in my life had so many flea bites. ICK! Hopefully the battle is over. I'm also with you when it comes to your reaction to your SIL being stung. I would be too traumatized to go to bed. BTW I don't know how I've missed all of your posts (Although, I have been hit or miss on here.) I'm happy to catch up.
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