08 October, 2011

Sept. 26 - Varmits...

It's been surprising how few urban and/or tropical critters I've encountered; we had so many bugs & slippery, slimy things in our places in Georgia & South Carolina...thought for sure I'd have them here, too. For the record they do grow cockroaches HUGE here...there was one sneaky little bugger hiding behind my curtains for a couple of days - he was at least two inches long, but skittered out under the door as soon as he was discovered. Small lizards do pop in once in a while...they sun themselves on the wrought iron covering the windows & can sometimes find the cooler marble window sill irresistible as the sun gets too hot. There's a nice long, slender bamboo pole tucked behind the guest bedroom door for just such occasions...a few taps near their tail and out they go! The neighborhood has several dogs & I saw one cat carrying the only rodent I've seen so far after her dawn hunting raid in the yard next to mine, so I was quite happy to see her do her job well. A snake was swimming in the canal during my first walk to the store, but I haven't seen any on land - and I've been looking for them! (Snakes swimming in the water certainly are creepy looking!)

There's also all the domesticated animals wandering around, though I still don't quite understand who owns most of them or how their territory is determined. Maybe they just go home on their own at dusk? It's very fun to watch the baby piglets and goats growing each day, the calves are almost ready to ween, baby chicks are getting their real feathers, and goslings are beginning to venture away from their parents along the water way.



A bird identification book is on my list of items to find...there are several beautiful species I wish I could note plus learn which call belongs to which bird. (I have identified the White-Throated Kingfisher through an online site of Bengal birds - it was around most mornings during the wettest days. I haven't seen it since the days started drying out. It's quite large - I'd say at least nine to ten inches & quite shy.)




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