infestation...

... but not yet unpleasant to the degree of the millipedes and ants. I told the story of sweeping up millipedes for days in the kitchen, not knowing how to stem the tide. About a year ago, I did not know how they got in the house, why they chose to invade, what to do to prevent them, how they multiplied so prolifically. Just  cleaned up the deceased ones that had literally curled up and died overnight, as well as a number of living wiggling ones that went in the trash day after day.

Then last winter I got up one morning to discover a multitude of ants swarming in and around the kitchen sink, apparently attracted to a water source? Put out ant traps and called the pest control guy. After I convinced the man who paid the bill that they were residing in the walls, someplace all the traps and home-owner spraying could not affect. What ever the pest control service did was successful, as the problem went away.

Now I have a family of lizards living in a wooden crate full of roofing slate sitting out on the concrete apron of the driveway. This little community has been there over the cold months, and now appearing everywhere. I have good intentions/hopes of using the shingles for a for a craft project. I am not willing to confess how long the box with slates has been sitting there on the apron of the driveway, but will readily admit they have been in residence, snug within the stack of shingles long enough for several generations to mature. I wonder if there is such a thing as a 'friendly pest', like snakes that eat other things we want around even less than Mr. No Shoulders?

I think the little chameleons eat lots of insects, and they seem harmless enough, so there is not need for a relocation project, but they can provide the perfect opportunity for the necessity of a clothing change. You can be seriously startled when one jumps off the nearby boxwood bush onto the driveway, or skitters from the sunny spot on the edge of a planter to hide under the wooden crate. Or comes flying off the edge of the gutter downspout where it was sunning to hide in the nearby parsley plants. Or was taking a nap, wrapped inside the cozy warmth of the American flag mounted on the corner of the house, and is suddenly exposed when the flag is unwound from around the pole. Surprising all parties involved. Not normally jumpy around harmless chameleons, the appearance of a little green lizard can create reason to check one's heart rate as it spikes unexpectedly.