The Critters Underfoot

Two aspects of living in rural Sri Lanka have been especially challenging—the heat and the bugs.  Putting an air conditioner in the bedroom a few weeks ago has changed my life!  Knowing that there will be some relief from the heat and humidity at night helps me get through the sweaty, sweltering days.  Now it’s the bugs that are the focus of my attention.

For the past four months, we have been camping 24-7!  I like camping, but I also like returning from a camping trip to a cozy clean house where I don’t have to wonder what is scurrying around underfoot.  In our home in Sri Lanka, however, there is always something darting here and there—underfoot, overhead, and along the walls as well--frogs, tree frogs, rats, roaches, geckos, scorpions, silverfish, spiders, and ants.  That’s in addition to the mosquitoes, moths, and all manner of tiny black bugs that fall into our water glasses and onto our plates of food.  As I write this, I’m having a cup of tea, not with milk and sugar, but with one black bug.  I no longer flinch when I see a bug in my beverage.  I hardly care anymore.

 I’m more cautious, however, with most of the other critters.  Every morning I clean up gecko droppings from my dresser, the dining table, the kitchen counter and floors.  When a dead gecko or roach mysteriously appears on the floor, I discard of it immediately, knowing that hundreds of ants will descend if I don’t.  Before using a skillet or pan, I first wipe the cobwebs or spiders out—they’re always there.  When I get up at night to use the bathroom, I first shine my flashlight on my flip flops to ensure the coast is clear of scorpions.  We’ve killed three so far, and I will always be watchful. 

The mosquito net gives the allusion that nothing can get in—and that allusion is actually comforting.  But an occasional mosquito gets in, and when the buzzing snatches one of us out of REM sleep, it is not a pretty picture.  Nor is it pleasant to lie in bed and listen to the rats scampering around above the drop ceiling.  If the drop ceiling somehow dropped out of its frame and a rat landed on me, would the mosquito net help in that situation?

Frogs and geckos keep the bug population down, and they are kind of cute, but there are limits!  Once I found a frog inside my book bag!  I must admit I am weary of seeing frogs on top of pots and pans, on bathroom walls, beside faucets, and inside the toilet.  Bob has become quite skilled at catching the frogs jumping around on the floors, but how do you get rid of a frog in the toilet?

The critter population is definitely down from the time we moved in.  We’ve covered the “open-air” windows (meaning no glass at all) with jungle green mesh.  We’ve filled window cracks with cardboard and tissues.  We’ve made rice bags to cover the gaping spaces between the floors and the doors.  This vigilance must go on.  We must remain alert.  But I am really sick of camping!