The one where they get eaten alive by mosquitos…
Monkey and I are covered in mosquito bites. We simply can’t seem to avoid the blood-sucking parasites. Every day I douse the two of us in Off, and every day we have little red nibbles all over our legs and ankles. I even get bites on my feet, the bottoms of my feet!!! It is so bad I am considering getting a pet bat. Yes folks!! A bat! I am thinking about buying a bathouse and placing it on the roof. Maybe attracting a few bats to the yummy bug smorgasbord that is my backyard.
New Jersey is teeming with life! Creepy crawlies abound here. I encountered the largest free range spider I have ever seen in my gardening shed. Consequently, I will not be entering the gardening shed, of my own free will, again. It was easily the size of a silver half-dollar, and that was just it’s vile, fuzzy body. Yeehhehhh. I saw it, it saw me, but I was out of there with the door slammed securely shut before it could act on any plan of attack.
We have crickets, fleas, ticks, mosquitos, grasshoppers, spiders, tiny little red bugs, and god only knows what else! I definately need a pet bat. Granted, owning bats as pets is generally a bad idea, and some of the rarer species are illegal pets, but I can certainly build a bat house and try to lure one of them to me. Here little bat, come eat these lovely bugs, check out the spider in the shed, come eat at McMisty’s!!
We have got to do something. I could put up a bug zapper but I am afraid it would be so busy killing bugs that it would keep the neighbors awake, or maybe blow the neighborhood power grid. (Which seems a little dodgy anyway, given we have lost power several times in the 12 days we have been here.)
At least Monkey can enjoy catching bugs. And we do have an abundance of butterflies and fireflies, so I shouldn’t complain too much; BUT THE REST OF THEM ARE ICKY!!!
Off the bug topic, we are settling in. The final chapter of the gross carpet saga will be resolved this week, and we will be able to get our stuff moved in and set Monkey’s room up. Finally. We will be able to hang up and put away our clothes, and get all her toys out, and have a house, wherein we can actually live.
I am going to go spray some more Off! around,
Your Denver Girl, signing off.
Hmm . . . maybe I won’t complain about Ben’s house . . ..
Build the bat house and then put out several different kinds of bird feeders and bird food. The birds, bats, spiders and praying mantises are your friends. Go encourage them to live in YOUR yard.
BTW, is this a house or a condo?
Do you HAVE a yard? Can you add stuff to it (i.e. plants?)? If you can, start putting in plants that will attract bug eating birds. Sunflowers are always a good way to start. Bird houses (too late for this year, but think about next year’s breeding season), bird baths, feeders, etc. You can also BUY egg masses for praying mantises. Find a local greenhouse/nursery. Or order them online.
Don’t get a bug zapper, you’ll wind up zapping good bugs as well as bad bugs. It won’t discriminate and the fireflies are too cute to zap!
Build that bat house!
Everyone should have bats in their belfries!
Also, try a different variety of big repellent. Maybe they’re too tough for what you have. Good luck!
ooh!! I love your ideas, though I am disturbed by the praying mantis egg masses.
Are they creepy too?