Thursday, October 08, 2015

Animal House

It is a veritable smorgasbord of creatures around here.  Let me start by saying that whatever the squeaking, squealing, hissing creature is, is still around.

However, it comes in the middle of the night.  When it starts its shenanigans, I'm dead asleep.  Then, of course, the sound awakens me, but I'm so snuggled in that the thought of getting up with the flashlight and
hoping to see it is not as welcoming as just turning over and going back to sleep.  Maybe one of these days..........After all, "it" is outside.

Not the creature that I met some time in the middle of the night last night,  as I headed to the bathroom.  Actually, I didn't see it as I was heading there, but once I sat down with the light on, I saw this writhing creepy, prehistoric thing on the floor.   Yup, a scorpion.  I had been barefooted going to the bathroom.  Rest assured, I did not go back to bed barefooted.

He looked like this but had no tail!  It was just the body.  As I sat there in amazement watching it, I realized that when I opened the bathroom door, the door ran over him, (thankfully) and decapitated his tail.

Therefore, when I killed him, I didn't need  spray starch to freeze him in motion and prevent him from stinging me. .  Only the flyswatter and a lot of Kleenex to pick it up and throw it in the toilet.  Gosh, they are so creepy.  I SO dislike them.

A bizarre thing happened in the garden today also.  Pleasantly bizarre.  After having worked in the gardens for many, many hours, I sat down with a glass of iced tea to enjoy the fruits of my labor.  About that time one of the resident white breasted hummingbirds started zipping around.  That is not unusual.  But, what WAS unusual was the fact that on the second dive bombing, it stayed about two feet from my face and just kept looking at me.  I was looking at it too!  It was white from its neck all the way down its chest.  The amazing part was that it had a band of iridescent turquoise around its neck.  I don't know what color its back wings were as I was so astounded that it stayed there in position for so long that it never occurred to me to look at its back.  I'll do that this weekend.  Most of the hummingbirds are in the garden daily.  No, I don't have hummingbird feeders.  I do have all kinds of  flower blooms that they love and they are zipping all over the place, both on the roof terrace and down in the ground floor gardens and the lower patio.  A veritable feast for them.

To say that each day living in this nature sanctuary is an adventure is an understatement.  In the next couple of weeks, the Monarchs will be coming through.  The big orange plants and the poinsettias will be blooming.

The butterflies go berserk going from one plant to the other.  They, of course, are heading to the Monarch sanctuaries for the winter!


Life is a daring adventure (most of the time) or nothing at all.  Helen Keller



 

5 comments:

Retired Teacher said...

Glad you didn't step on that scorpion! I've never seen one in Mexico, and hope I never do!
¡Saludos!

Anonymous said...

Ugh! Scorpions! I'll second your assessment; they are indeed creepy. The idea of having them in the house is revolting. Thank God you didn't step on him. Here in Boston, I'm overrun with tiny spiders spinning webs all over the house. I wish I could make them go away, but I don't want to spray any pesticides, so I just do a lot of vacuuming.

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we've also been fighting off a pantry moth infestation, though we seem to now have the upper hand.

Babs said...

Pantry moths? Wow, that is a new one for me. Ahh, yes, from time to time I see little cobwebs and swoop them down. I seem to have a few daddy long legs that like the ceiling in the bathroom.........go figure. I'm not afraid of them and hope that they are doing some good by cohabitating with me.

Having lived in the USA all my life until moving here from Texas, the only thing I grappled with there were roaches. Flying roaches. I'm SO SO happy not to have that to contend with anymore. At least scorpions don't fly!That's about the only good thing I can say about them.

Scott said...

"I don't like spiders and snakes.
And that's not what it takes..."

Well I am guessing that the author of that song would certainly add scorpions to the lyrics. Reminds me of pulling into Tucumcari late one evening to get a motel room for the night and as I opened the door to the lobby, a large Tarantula scurries outside. Perhaps I should have perceived a hint about the accommodations.

Babs said...

Ahh, Scott, at least tarantula don't sting! HOW do I know that? Well, my son, who eventually became a wildlife biologist, raised one while in college. It was quarter size when he caught it in the Hill Country of Texas and about the size of a large helping of mashed potatoes when he let it go, finally. In the time inbetween, it lived in an aquarium at my house once in a while. Sometimes there were "alerts" to let me know that Dracula was out! No, I never got used to the idea.

However, getting stung by a scorpion when I stuck my hand in my jeans pocket one night was as painful as childbirth in my finger! Not kidding. It HURT for a long time.

I would think, knowing the climate in Tucumcari (yes I drove thru there once) that there would be lots of tarantulas. Glad you lived through it!