Critters

Lots of times people are interested in the wildlife that we see here. So, I'll give you the lowdown on what we have seen so far. Disclaimer: None of these pictures are our own...all pirated off the internet.


We see lizards...the big lizards, not the little lizards we are used to seeing in the states. I haven't seen too many and they don't bother you or anything, but I've seen a few crawling on the walls surrounding our backyard. Something like the one in the picture.

Joel saw a snake on our patio a while back. It was so ferocious that he thought it was a worm and stepped over it. When he saw it crawling he decided to kill it. It had the coloring of a coral snake and apparently, we've been told, that the "red touch yellow, kill a fellow" (or whatever it is) doesn't apply here. We, as well as the guy telling us that, don't know what the accurate coloring for a actual coral here is. But, I'm fine with just killing all the snakes we see personally. That's the only one so far though. I know you all know what a coral snake looks like...just imagine it worm size. :)

We've seen a few of these in our house. These are centipedes. I don't like them. They are poisonous, but not the get-bitten-and-you-die kind of poisonous. Supposedly it just inflicts pain and discomfort...similar to bee or wasp stings (unless you are allergic). They are really fast crawlers and generally just give me the heebie jeebies.

We see lots of spiders also. They are medium-size spiders and I have no idea what kind they are...the kind you kill is all I know. They aren't the tarantula size spiders or anything. Although I really have no problem with tarantulas...I had tarantulas as pets when I was in high school. But, if I found one in my house unexpectedly I think I'd have a problem with that. And spiders in general don't bother me that much...they were practically my roommates when I lived in the prayer room at the Graves' before I got married. But still...spiders that are not invited must die. Besides, when you have small defenseless children sleeping in your house...there's more of an urgency...all critters must die.


Last but not least, our friends, the millipedes. These we see ALL the time. I seriously kill at least 10 a day...and that's a very good day. They are not harmful...they are just bothersome. I found one crawling on my side of the bed one day...not comforting I tell you (thankfully that's the only time I've seen one somewhere other than the floor). But, you just touch it with a napkin or tissue, it balls up like in this next picture, and then crunch and toss. :) It's just part of my everyday routine now. Eeesh.


Oh, and just day before yesterday we had some larva of some sort. I picked up a load of laundry to put in the washer and there they were...lots of them. The laundry room is near our trash. Eliane (our house help) said she thought they came from the trash. Lovely. We killed away and cleaned really good of course, so hopefully they will not be a returning uninvited guest.

We haven't seen anything dreadfully out of the ordinary yet. But, the problem is that we don't know of any exterminators here...as in that is not an option here. So, what do people do? They just continue to crunch and toss I guess.

One of our friends told us that he thought there was an exterminator here. We need to pry some answers out of him next time we seen him. Our other friend, Kristin, who has been here longer said she's never heard of an exterminator. But, we need to clarify. Kristin told us to please inform her of one if we find one. She thought she had rats in her attic. Turns out...nope...bats. They've killed 6 bats to date. I think I'd rather the rats, but actually...I'll take my millipedes any day over either of those critters.