The Miniature Wildlife of Bumpkinland
I absolutely love living out in the country, the peace and quiet, the views and being surrounded by mother nature to name just a handful of reasons - but I do have to say that despite all of the above… There is still one aspect of my character that remains very “city girl-ish” and that is - I do NOT love creepy crawlies, lol - or as we call them here in South Africa - “goggas”. It does not matter what they are - they must just stay far away from me!
So, with my natural, shriek worthy “lack of love” for insects in general, it makes total sense that I would choose to live right in the heart of their homeland, lol. I have seen all sorts in my life, but let me tell you - the bugs and insects out here in country bumpkinland are something else entirely!
I have, with great reluctance and hesitation, but mostly fear lol - been introduced to some really weird and (respectfully) wonderful goggas over the last few years. Creatures I have never seen in my life before and therefore have NO clue what they are all about, only that most of them look like bugs on steroids lol.
Cleaning house is a little bit futile out here too, because within one day of making everything spick and span - the floor and walls will be dotted with all sorts of miniature wildlife - most of which I would never be able to identify if it were not for Google lens. So, in short - if you ever want to see me scream like a girl, you know what to do, lol.
image
Along with the scatterings of goggas which find themselves all over the house floor, come the other little buggers which like to eat them - dead or alive. No, I am not talking about some giant ferocious creature of the night… I am talking about ANTS! Glory, I have never experienced ants like we have here. You only need to think of food and they are there!
Now, don’t get me wrong…despite my involuntary “heebie jeebies” for insects in general, I am still very much a lover of nature. I am simultaneously in awe of them and petrified at the same time, lol - but in general I have become very much “pro life”, so if I can relocate whatever creepy crawly from inside the house to back into the garden I will… but the ants, oh my gaaaawsh, the ants get no mercy from me any more.
In fact, I am pretty sure that if you were a fly on the wall watching me as I walk around the house with the ant spray, you would think I was some sort of crazed lunatic! These little things are just everywhere and I, have tried everything!!! Salt, cinnamon - even feeding them with scatterlings of dog biscuits on the outside of the house in the hopes that it would stop them from coming inside! Literally nothing has worked.
If I spray one hole which they are using as an entry point, they will literally create another one by eating through the tile grouting, wall cement or a crack in a tile. I will say however, that they get full marks for determination, that’s for sure haha!
Despite being reassured that the structural damage they cause is minimal, I am convinced they are eating our house from beneath us and one day this entire place is just going to collapse into a heap of dust, haha! I have to admire their dedication to their greater cause though… an attribute seen a lot less in humans, haha!