We have a number of beetles that frequent our flat and we always try to peacefully let them leave after placing them outdoors. (we don't extend this kindness to cockroaches just so everyone is clear). We've seen a lot of these little beetles that I call thorn beetles... not sure exactly what they are, but their underside is bright green.
One night we were returning from the grocery store and upon opening the door Ian jumped backward in surprise. He thought that he had seen a very large centipede, but upon turning on the light we found this gecko on the wall.
We did our best to urge him out, but he was pretty firmly stuck in a corner of the ceiling so we decided to let him stay. Ian had guessed that a gecko had been roaming around the apartment as we had been cleaning the walls of little bits of 'dirt' every once in a while. We were happy to have a visit from the gecko as we desperately needed some mosquito control. Luckily we found a plug-in 'Moskiller' later in the week since we have not seen the gecko since and have a bit of a mosquito problem.
Another strange phenomena that happens here is getting swarmed by flying termites. At night if you leave your lights on and windows open flying termites will often find their way in. the body of the termite is only a couple centimeters long, but the wings are enormous and loud.
The other night our balcony was swarmed by these termites and we had to shove plastic bags along the bottom of the doorjam to keep them from climbing under the door! Flying termites are not the brightest of creatures, so after a long while of them bumping themselves up against the windows we were left with a huge amount of dead termites and termite wings on our balcony.
Gross! Needless to say, Ian went and bought a proper broom the next day.Yet, in the morning as I was getting ready cleaning I swept all of our dead termites into a pile and was looking for some equivalent to a dust-pan when a couple of different birds started singing really loudly. I popped my head out to the balcony to find two bright yellow weavers eating a buffet of termites as a few other birds joined them. It was great to see them enjoying my swept up termites.
Next time I will get the zoom lens ready for the day after we have another termite attack!
B
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OOOH!! The flying things are the WORST! One night in Uganda they swarmed and woke me up they were so loud buzzing around our bathroom light. I had to turn the lights out to go to the bathroom so I didn't get attacked! I turned out all the lights to try and keep them outside, and then the next morning they were COVERING the ground, losing wings and mating all over the place. And the Ugandans were eating them - or picking them up to go roast them and sell them. So crazy!
ReplyDeleteWow, Bekah - you have a regular zoo going on there! (Lora B)
ReplyDeletethat little thorn beetle is about the cutest thing I've ever seen! though I expect it wouldn't be so cute if you stepped on it...ouch! thanks for sharing your colorful pics!
ReplyDeleteLove that you didn't have a broom until you needed one to sweep up termites ;-) We also had a TERRIBLE problem with mosquitoes in Italy. When we first moved there, we didn't think about the fact that we didn't have screens on our windows, so left the windows open all night. I had several bites the next morning. Mike had none. We bought a fan so we could keep the windows closed. Also, one night in Milan, we were making calls to our parents on the pay phone outside our hotel. Mosquitoes were thick. I was determined to make the call, so while I stood at the pay phone, Mike spent the call swatting the mosquitoes away from me. They were swarming me. Ignored him completely. I counted more than 50 bites in the shower that night before giving up.
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