Critters

We had some interesting experiences with critters in and out of our house: burrowing owls, termites, crickets, lizards, and a praying mantis.

The Burrowing Owls took up residence before we got here. There are at least three different nests of them in the neighborhood. The two owls closest to us are the most sedate. The one problem that we have with them is they like to sit on our back patio on the lights. Under these lights, they leave their “Deposits.” Georgia has tried putting up copper wire to discourage birds. It worked with the pigeons, but not the owls. We will let it go as they will be leaving as the neighborhood gets built up.

Randy noticed some “tubes” on the outside of the house near the foundation. A TV show taught him that these might be termite tubes. Georgia called the exterminator and sure enough, that was exactly what they were. The termites have now been terminated.

We had a cricket in the house that somehow ended up in the master bathroom where we could not find it. It chose to serenade us while we were trying to sleep. After several nights us this, Georgia was finally able to spot, catch and remove the noisy insect and send it to a watery grave with a single flush.

We also had a small, tan colored, gecko-like lizard in the house. It would dodge behind furniture anytime we moved however it did not serenade us like the cricket. People at work use cats to take care of such intruders. With our allergy doctor’s cautions, that is one thing that we cannot have. We eventually found the little lizard’s body on the floor by the dining table just before breakfast one morning. It was not moving and Georgia disposed of it too.

The praying mantis, desert tan in color, was spotted on our green trash can that was out for pickup. Somehow it did not want to be taken for a ride back to the house and took off for more "desert" pasture. It was interesting seen it in desert color rather than the normal green.

So, what kind of critters have you seen this summer?