Living WITH Wildlife!

Since living on level ground surrounded by a tall white, impenetrable wall, I have felt cosseted from the many creatures of nature who used to traverse through the lush grounds of the house on the hill.

As far as I can remember during those eighteen years, the variety of creatures included coyotes, a black and white skunk, coatamundis, possums and their babies,  feral cats, birds of a feather, cutter ants, scorpions.  Well, you get the drift.  It was a feast of wildlife.  Some of which was NOT welcome.

In fact the only way I could get rid of the coatamundis coming down the fireplace was to cut the limb off the big lush china berry tree.  Voila, no more noises in the night.  The only way to deal with the cutter ants was poison, much to my distress.  It never worked anyway as they made mounds on the street that were, in some instances, half a foot high! 

Fast forward to the calming influence of this house.  Secure, airtight, and not a bug in sight.  Only the angry bird, which I have written about previously.  Nope, no scorpions even.......What a gift after living here now for eight months to not see a bug in the house!Not even a fly or mosquito........

                                                     The flamboyant tree in bloom now.

 That all changed last week!  In the middle of the night, I headed to the bathroom at about midnight.
As I walked in, there on the wall, was the biggest roach I've seen in at least twenty years.  Yup, I've
never seen a roach in Mexico, anywhere.  Geez, and there it was ON THE WALL.  My first thought was, "Does it fly?"  Some in Texas and Louisiana do and if that thing had flown at me, I would have been screaming at the top of my lungs.  I quickly left the bathroom and slammed the door. I also checked to see if it could get out under the door.  Made a beeline for my bedroom and closed both doors there. 

Of course, I had to lay there and try to figure out, (a) how did it get in? (b) would it come in the bedroom, and (c) if it was still there in the morning, then what was I going to do.  Needless to say, I do not like cockroaches and have inordinate fear of those that fly.  Cockroaches and scorpions go together on my fear list.  

So, what did I do? I sent a What's App message to my son at midnight telling him I might need his help in the morning.........well, sometimes one does not use common sense, ha.

Yes, in the morning, it was still there, but not on the wall, but on the tile floor in the shower stall.  Oy vey.  They move so fast, I was afraid I would not be able to get to it fast enough.  Long story short, by the time my son came, we could not find it!  That posed another conundrum.  WHERE is it?

I had put the rubber cover over the drain in the shower just in case that was how it got in...only place that I could think of that had access to the outside............

THEN, a few days later, I passed another one headed TO the bathroom on the floor.  I could hardly believe my eyes.  It was daylight though and I was relatively calm.  I got the Raid and took care of that guy, immediately.  Still not knowing where the other one was...........FOUND it the next day when I moved the shower bench and it was in the "dying cockroach" position.  Whew, another crisis averted!

Of course, now there was the question, "If the drain in the shower is covered, and there is a trap on the bathroom sink, how the heck did the second cockroach get in?"  It dawned on me, belatedly, that the kitchen sink could be another source.  So, now, there is a cover on that drain as well.

As if this fiasco wasn't enough.............as I was sitting at midnight the other night waiting for cool air to come so I could go to bed and sleep (this is our hot time of the year), a giant possum walked right passed the front doors!  The porch lights were on so I could see it mosey by slowly.  I think it was a possum because it had a very long hairless tail.  It walked by and then came back by going the other way.  Now I know what has been digging in the flower pots all this time!.  But, this begs the question, how is this possum getting in since there are no holes to fit through and there is an electrical fence on

top of the wall.......................

The only wildlife that I had seen for all this time has been the various birds enjoying the bird bath.

Things have changed though and look what is nesting across the street in the big eucalyptus trees.

Egrets or herons.  They are the same, I have read.  These nested here last year to have a bazillion babies and will be nesting til September when they leave.   What has amazed me is there size in
comparison to the birds that flit around in the garden.  Not only are they huge, when they light on those delicate branches (in this photo this one is in a pine tree), they must not weigh much as they land on the tips of the branches and the branches don't seem to drop much from their weight. 

The sounds the egret/herons make sounds like a cross between a turkey and a duck!  Strange.  So
far they only seem to make that noise at about 6:30AM!  Time will tell how this will all play out.
As they fly, they don't come over this yard. Something else I think is strange.  They have not attempted to land in the  giant Norfolk pine or the blooming Flamboyant tree. 

If you think I am bored being at home and have nothing to do, I guess this post will assuage your concerns.

I  get up every day waiting to see what else is going to happen  among the "wildlife" that surrounds me.  It is interesting, usually, and fun, most of the time.

Stay tuned.