Off-Topic

I don’t have any pets. Growing up, I had pets at different times: a fish, cats, a dog, and classroom pets. I have even done some pet sitting. I love those animals too. I worry about them when I am gone, and I get anxious if I leave them alone too long without checking in. I get a little attached.

I have also experienced a number of critters to which I developed no particular affinity. In random order, here are their stories. I was sitting in my small apartment (maybe less than 150 sq. ft.). I was on my bed looking out the bedroom door, across the 5 feet wide kitchen, and out of its screened window. I watched a rodent crawl up the wall of the home across from me through its screened window. Horrific as that was, I did not hear any sounds in my places such as a rodent would make. I did, however, very often (and more so in that apartment than anywhere else on the island) hear my share of other scratchy sounds in the rooms and cabinets. Until now, I do not really know the difference between a pine bug, a water bug, and a cockroach. They all look like unwelcome relatives. I never could bring myself to kill them outright; yet when I see other people freak out more than I do about them, I step up and take control. When I witnessed 3 come in together, I was slightly overwhelmed. Another creature that often made itself comfortable in my home was the line of ants that I never could quite track completely. Those three creatures were very commonly seen in and around homes on the island.

One other creature that I frequently encountered outside of my small apartment was snails. I had to walk with a flashlight when I came in at night so that I would not crush them. Then, I would shine the light upon my door to ward off any cockroaches. While that may sound unappealing (and it was), I actually did live in some nicer places on the island.

In those nicer places, I was in no way free from critters. In fact, I still encountered many of the same critters, though not in so much abundance and not so frequently. In the same instance, I really cannot decide if I would rather see cockroaches more often or have one run across my face while I am sleeping. It really is a toss-up. In the nicer place, I had seen more and bigger spider. I am slightly embarrassed to say that I ran away from those spiders with a small body and long legs. Not the daddy long leg. The spider was probably the size of my spread-out hand. This particular spider had only 7 legs. I did stub my toe running up the stairs, but I was not about to let that spider swallow me whole. Not every experience was so dreadful. One of the more pleasant surprises was after a return from the beach. We tossed our bags in the middle of the floor and crashed. Later something started to crawl out of one of the bags. It startled me at first, but it was a harmless hermit crab. I think we kept it.

I do recall a crab that we did not keep. I was at work and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a very large crab crawl into the room. I balked at first because I thought it was one of those water bugs. Had it been that large, I probably would have lost consciousness. We put that guy outside. Another creature that I do not really mind is the gecko. I see them around and let them be. I appreciate how they eat the other bugs that I don’t really care for. I do, on the other hand, have one request regarding the lizards. Wait your turn in the shower. Jumping on my head will not make me finish any faster.

While I can cohabitate with the gecko, not even they were able to keep up with the pestilence that overcame my roommate and me one night at dinner. No, not the spider on the wall. I am talking about the maggots. So many maggots just started creeping up out of the carpet. We vacuumed as much as and as fast as we could, but they kept coming. Who did not come was maintenance. We managed to sleep that night. The next afternoon after work, our apartment was full of flies. We killed as many as we could. The following day, most of them had died. We could vacuum them up. We finally called maintenance again to find that they had not come because they were waiting for the maggots to be gone. Never mind! We’ve got this. Or do we?

I eventually moved off that island where I thought I would escape some of those creatures, but I did not move far enough north. I experienced many of the same critters, but there were a couple of things I just did not think I would see. For instance, I was in a drive-thru picking up dinner. Across the parking lot, along the tree line, I saw a cougar. I was just intrigued. I actually thought that was cool. One of my longest-lived, unwanted guests came in one night when I was on the couch. I heard the familiar scratching noise. This time, it was alarming because the scratching was louder than I expected from a pine bug. I thought for sure I had a mouse. I figured out where in the kitchen the scratching was coming from. I stood on a chair ready to leap in any direction with my broom in hand (not to attack, but to run or defend myself). I leaned in to open the door. My eyes grew large, and his eyes got big too. I closed the door quickly. Then, I grabbed my phone to look up what I thought I was seeing. It certainly was an opossum (We call them possums where I come from). How did he get there? Long story short, Petey was around for a few days, and then I did not see or hear him anymore. A couple of years later, I was walking around the neighborhood. I am pretty sure I came across Petey’s son. I was happy to see him; however, I would not invite him in. But he was cute.

I have encountered many cute creatures as well as ghastly guests, but for now, I just want to be alone.