Chasing Orchid: Close Encounters of the Country Kind

I’ve been in my new hometown for about 2.5 weeks now. Let me tell you, I’ve encountered some interesting umm wildlife I’ll call it. If you’ve read my previous post about roosters, you know I’ve already met more of them then I care to think about. But aside from these noisy little critters I’ve met quite a few other local residents ranging from cute to scary to downright painful.

Geckos- These guys are absolutely adorable. I admit when I first brushed against one while trying to unlock my gate, it scared the crap out of me. I had no idea what it was, just that it moved extremely fast. After I realized it was actually a harmless gecko I found it quite cute. I actually had a couple resident ones in my temporary housing unit. Honestly for such little creatures they are quite loud. They almost chirp/croak, it’s an odd sound but definitely a distinctive one. The only reason I tried to catch them was not because I was afraid of them but because I simply didn’t want to step on one in the middle of the night! Alas, those suckers are way too fast for me, but we all cohabitated happily and to tell the truth, I kind of miss them.

Cane Spiders-All I have to say is HOLY CRAP!!! I was in my bathroom and I turned on the water in the sink to a slight dribble. Apparently there was a spider in the drain (no drain plug). When the water started running it jumped up, brushed against my arm and landed on the porcelain. Needless to say I jumped backwards and looked at it disbelievingly. I kid you not, that thing was brown, slightly hairy and its legs spanned my palm. Now I’m not normally one to kill a spider, but this thing…no way was it running rampant around my cottage. Not to mention I had no idea what it was or if it was poisonous. So like a typical girl, I grabbed a broom, stood on my toilet and whacked at the thing (well I didn’t want it crawling over my feet *shivers*). This didn’t succeed and the damned thing jumped to the wall. I no longer had the safe haven of the toilet to stand on. So I got down, took another couple whacks at it, made sure it was dead and then gingerly scooped it into the dust pan and flushed it down the toilet. Thank god I didn’t encounter another one of those!

Palm Beetles-Yuck, these things look like mega roaches. They’re really quite big, brown and fast as hell. But they’re not roaches (not that I care, they still give me the willies). I only encountered one in my cottage. It had somehow managed to flip itself on its back and was having trouble getting up. That was good for me (enter the trusty broom). I took a whack at it, then couldn’t find the dustpan so I scooped it up with a barbecue turner, you know, long handles are a saving grace. Then proceeded to flush it down the toilet. Adios spider and beetle! Good riddance.

Fire Ants-Last but not least (for today anyway) are fire ants. These guys just suck! I was standing there minding my own business, when suddenly I felt stinging on my toes. One of the hazards of wearing slippers (flip-flops to continental USAers) is that there is nothing to protect your feet. I looked down and noticed little red ants crawling around. Now I’ve encountered red ants before but not fire ants. Their name definitely does them justice. When they bite, anywhere they hit burns like hell. So now, my pinky and the toe next to it are red and they sting. If you see these little bastards, just run away. They’ll be like roaches and Twinkies. When the apocalypse does come, they’ll still be around. It seems as if they are indestructible. Apparently, the best way to actually kill them is to burn them. Hmm fire for the fire ant, seems like poetic justice to me.

I know there are lots of creatures I have yet to stumble upon, however these few are definitely enough for me. If I don’t run into anymore like them I’ll be quite content (though I do like the geckos). Anyway, it’s all been a great adventure, can’t wait to see what kind of creepy crawly tomorrow brings. *chuckles*