The fire ants are everywhere (outside). They're so small it's easy to overlook them... and by the time you realize they're there, it's too late! Yesterday I was working in the yard weeding my garden. I was wearing gardening gloves (in case there are slimy things down there I don't want to touch!), protecting my hands from thorns, etc. Then I noticed stinging on my ankles... immediately followed by more stinging on my wrist and arms. ANTS! A friend & I decided the other day that their game plan is for all of them to get into position covering whatever available skin they can get to... then it's "1, 2, 3... BITE!" Because once you feel that first bite, you're already covered. So first I was standing on an ant hill, so I moved. Then I was pulling weeds from an area that disturbed them... now they're on the weeds that I'm holding in my hands! THEN I went further up the hill to transplant a few things and I had to sit on the ground because it was so steep. You guessed it! I found myself sitting on them! And now they were all over me! At that point, I determined that I was finished with yard work for the day! [Today I cleaned the house.]
Now on to the barking dogs: Most households down here have at least one dog. There are 10 dogs among the 4 houses closest to us (2 houses beside us, and 2 across the street). Unfortunately, the dogs are left to run loose around the neighborhood... and no one gets them spayed or neutered. They are covered with fleas & ticks, and many of them have numerous cuts & scrapes from fighting.
We don't have a fence up so they run through our property, do their business, and even hang out (with Scott) outside his shop below. All but one are pothounds... 3 females & 7 males. (The one female looks like a lhasa apso?) Now, you can just imagine what it's like around here when the "ladies" go into heat!The female from across the street is in heat now, and for the past week this "pile" of dogs goes rumbling up & down the street below our bedroom during the night. This starts around 2:30-3:00 am and continues for a few hours... with incessant barking the whole time! So we haven't been getting much sleep. Finally Scott mentioned to the neighbor that we may have to take some drastic action if he doesn't do something about this. So for the past 2 nights he's kept the female dog in his basement at night... and we've finally gotten some decent sleep because that's solved the problem for now. Scott thanked him for that the next day... then asked him if he could do something about the thunder that rumbled through during a bad storm as well! (First he looked puzzled, then just smiled!)
I find it upsetting to see so many dogs on the loose that are not well cared for. One morning we noticed one of the (white) male dogs had a "pink" shoulder and could not use one leg. The pink was actually from an injury where he was bleeding. His leg had a pretty bad cut at the joint, and his eye was injured as well.
Although he could barely walk (for days), no one seemed to care. In a few months, we'll have 2 more litters of puppies (the other female pothound is pregnant too). This will just add to the insanity! (PHOTOS show the injured white dog, the tan female dog, and the "fluffy" dog... guarding Scott's shop!)And finally, about the "wormy things"... I've found photos of them on line listed as millipedes, but the locals call them congarees. They are black, 4-5 inches long, and slow-moving (so easy to kill). They seem to appear out of nowhere! Scott has been going outside first thing in the morning and going around killing as many as he finds... one morning he reported killing 45! Occasionally we see them in the house, but not very often. Mostly they're outside on the fruit trees, but we find them on the veranda, the driveway, and in the garden as well.
When you touch them, they curl up (like a sausage). I hate killing them... because I hate killing things that crunch! Scott's my hero!Well, that's all for now... I'll let you know if I think of anything else "annoying"! Just thought you might want to hear that it's not all a bed of roses down here! (But it sure comes close!)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment