9th of March 2007

Insects and beasties

There are so many different types of insects here and they all seem so big. We have had crickets, praying mantis, butterflies, beetles and all kinds of creepy crawlies. There are things that jump, scuttle, hop, hover, fly, dive-bomb, float, slither.

here is the resident preying mantis about 100mm long.

I try not to notice them but it is hard not to. Surprisingly some of them are quite beautiful: different colours and shapes from those I am used to. Still gives me the creeps though. There is a wasp-like thing that seems to carry another body on its back looking like it is giving something a piggy back. Spiders are just huge. Even the small ones give bites and I so avoid them like the plague. I can see why you have to clean thoroughly very day. Avia does a great job of keeping them out of the house but they are impossible to control outside. We do have a little gecko which scrambles round the main room but it is almost a pet! Well that is what George says but when I see it scuttle across the walls I hold my breath. I am a woose.

We had an ant colony by our pool (I know I still can’t used to saying it without laughing) and we had to kill them and they kamikazed into the swimming pool. It was horrible. We had to rake them out with the pool net. Their wee dead bodies covered the entire surface. Not nice. I kept having visions of the cartoon film about the ant world. Felt like a mass murderer, but not for long cos it was much better not to have ants crawling up my legs. They give me the shivers. I am not really cut out for all these bugs. The dragonflys drink from the pool - free!

We did see one huge thing that was like a slug but 500 times bigger. It was a millipede apparently but I didn’t count its legs. It was so disgusting but harmless, George says. (Are you sensing a theme here? Everything is harmless according to George. Funny thing though is that everyone else has tales of things which kill or maim you). Anyway back to the millipede, it had a thick body about as thick as two fingers, dark brown, slimy and slug type. Yeuch! To offset this, there are some beautiful butterflies.

There are of course mozzies. The wee beggars get everywhere and seem to bite me lots no matter what I put on – fresh blood I suppose. Luckily they are not malarial here so no need to take anything but I itch like blazes and come up in huge lumps. The worst of it is I don’t hear them coming. At least European mozzies have the decency to make a lot of noise before they suck you dry.

Yesterday we saw a praying mantis that looked like a dry leaf. It was amazing. You could pick out its legs and the praying posture but if you hadn’t looked closely you would really have thought it was a leaf and brushed it away.

George is into bird watching now so we spent last Sunday at the dam nearby which has a number of different species. But the garden has some delightful ones sitting in the trees. There is one about the size of a humming bird, just the most beautiful azure belly. Gorgeous to watch. We have a bird table in the garden and so I watch them come down. It is strange to be content to just watch them but it is fascinating seeing the different varieties. I spend time here doing nothing much but watching. I can’t believe it really but I do think I am not really taking part in life– I suppose it is cos I don’t have a connection to anything here. The house is on loan, the furniture is not something I will ever take home, and I am just borrowing this time from somewhere. It is a strange feeling. In fact I think I feel a little bit like a teenager without any of the angst – no responsibilities accept to myself. I intend to savour every moment of it.