I try and try to be kind to all creatures (roaches, spiders, flies, ants and mice are exceptions), but when they take up residence in my home, I have a hard and fast rule about that....they have to go.......by hook or by crook.
I am spending most of my days cleaning my home (both inside and outside) and there hasn't been any time for preparing decent meals recently. I've been using mostly salads, sandwiches and takeaway.
Okay so I open the pantry door yesterday to reach for the matches to make a quick meal, and I saw a sudden movement on one of the shelves, and when I focused in that area I saw a tail.....WHAT?????
Lunchtime forgotten.
Immediately, I was in "mad woman jamming" mode. Started removing every item from the shelf in the pantry, and I discovered Squatter numero uno....what we here call a "white lizard" ....common house gecko.....Hemidactylus mabouia.
Now as far as I know geckos are supposed to run along walls and eat any bugs they may find and chill out on patios at night eating more bugs and flying insects that frequent the patio light....not hang out on the third shelf of my pantry....YICK!!
Hiding behind the box of Glucose and the box of gelatin in the corner.
Thankfully most of the items on that shelf reside in glass jars and bottles, so there was no contamination.
Why on earth would he/she take up residence in my pantry...of all the crazy things to do....they know I don't like them in the house. The patio is fine, but not inside the house.
Okay, so what's a girl to do? There was no way that Mr.Gecko was going to come running out on his own. I didn't want to take the chance of having him run amok on the other shelves....soooooo...
Well done.....at least I didn't have to go through the ritual of jumping around and squealing as it darted here there and everywhere.
There is an old wives tale here that states that if these lizards jump on your skin, they have to be surgically removed or burnt off. They do have suction cups on their toes which allow them to run all over the walls upside down. I have no interest in testing the old wives tale however.
As if the gecko were not enough, I am now seeing a lot more of these....
Household case bearing moth larvae
A small tiny reddish worm enclosed in a white oval cocoon with a hole on each end.They move by extending their heads from the cocoon body and pull themselves forward inching their way along.
Apparently they are found in homes worldwide and feed on natural animal fibres like pet hair, dust, paper, lint, upholstered furniture etc.
They turn into moths eventually so my research tells me, but I don't recall seeing any small moths knocking around.
I see them mostly in my garage but now they seem intent on migrating to the inside of the house.....I guess because Brownie lives indoors and he does shed....that must be their cue...welcome to the Pet Hair Cafe.
I will have to vacuum more often and I will be getting these additional squatters under control before they take over.
Recently, I have been using a disinfectant to clean my floors but I think I will be returning to a diluted bleach solution.
I can ill afford to have squatters on my property....I would prefer if they paid for their room and board and agreed to other household terms and conditions.
Today I prepared the lunch that I had put on hold yesterday after dealing with the squatters.
Oh your veggie stew looks delicious. We have geckos that run around here as well - supposedly they are imports from china that eat our local lizards. oh that story about them sticking to you is awful - gives me the creeps.
ReplyDeleteWe also have an imported lizard here that eats all of our local anoles. They're far bigger and remind me of an iguana. They are fearless.
DeleteBrownie has been trying to catch the one that lives under the cellar for a while now, but it has evaded him thus far.
However, I do believe the geckos are harmless but some folks call them "Poison lizards."
The main intruder at The Cottage is the Gisborne Cockroach which isn't actually interested in human food but lives in old wood. They find their way into the house though and, because I'm in the middle of the country they are quite common. The other problem is flies and the occasional spider. Fortunately, unlike in Australia there are no seriously poisonous insects (although a white-tailed spider can deliver an unpleasant bite but I've never seen one this far south), It is common in New Zealand to spray the house one a year inside and out and anything that does come in and walks across a floor, wall or ceiling soon perishes. In fact a roach rarely makes it across the floor before it's dead. I wish you success with your eradication.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of a white-tailed spider before, but once it came into the house, its time on this earth would be numbered.
DeleteI usually spray with an insecticide outside the house and it lasts a long time. With all the rainfall that we had this year, it really didn't make sense spraying. Now that I have my new spray can, I can pump it up and carry out my ritual 3 month spraying which keeps the property bug free.