... in to work this morning at 5 a.m., and getting off at shortly after 11:00, I was trying to make a bee-line for the house to get the floor cleaned. Have been looking at and threatening to sweep and mop the kitchen for several weeks. The floor needed to be cleaned before the man who was to make a service call between two and four arrived. When the weather changes, you can depend on an interesting assortment of bugs to show up inside the house. Hot to cold, or wet to dry, or a long dry spell without rain will cause them to decide they like being inside better than out there in their natural habitat.
Growing up in south GA, I am not in the least alarmed by roaches. Due to living in an environment where they thrive, multiplying around the clock without regard to seasons, you learn to accept them as part of living in a temperate climate. Here, I can be thankful that the weather is not so warm and lacking real change in seasons that causes small reptiles to invade the house and reproduce regardless of what might be on the calendar page. Any number of times over the years when I was a youngster in extreme south, within walking distance of the Florida line (provided you were a marathon walker) I removed various cold blooded creatures who had squeezed their bodies into a human residence. Lizards, chameleons, and the occasional loose pet turtle. I would guess that over those years when I lived in that house, I probably removed nearly a dozen snakes - yesh, snakes! from the house. Oh, ick. Absolutely. But when the decision is to get them back into their natural habitat or think about where they might go when you turn out the lights and go to bed: you want to be eliminate the likelihood of Mr. No Shoulders residing under the covers.
Innumerable bugs and rodents. Fortunately I was not responsible for ridding the house of small mice, as my dad was super dependable about setting traps and removing things that were deceased as a result of having their little ratty necks snapped. There were often roaches that came in when the weather would encourage them to relocate - just part of living in a place with lots of pine trees and leaf mulch, straw in flower beds surrounding the house.
The current crisis has been ants. Thousands of ants, crawling across the walls along the top edge, heading towards the kitchen sink in search of water, I suppose. The last time we had an invasion I was informed that the 'solution' is Windex. So I got out my spray bottle, added some green ammonia, and started spraying. It killed some: hundreds of little corpses lying on the floor, and around the sink on the counter top. But I know it did not solve the problem. They are just in hiding.
A $95 service call from the bug man, who reportedly sprayed inside and out. He wanted me to be convinced the ants climb trees behind the house, go out on a limb, and drop onto the roof, come in the attic. Plus he said they nest in debris collected in guttering around the edge of the roof. I looked at him as if to say: really? He assured me he has seen this happen in Panama. I did not ask what Panama has to do with middle Georgia. The bug guy said I need to get fire ant poison and sprinkle it all around the house. Took the ninety-five dollars and said 'have a nice day'.
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