All the little critters!

Well, we've had our share of little critters running around the compound these days. Different ones have seen and/or heard rats in every house here. Steve and Shana's house seemed especially prone to the infestation. Finally, after finding a dead one down in their block wall when they came home from a weekend out on vacation last Sunday evening they declared war! Steve went after a rat he heard in their cupboard on Tuesday evening, and Shana joined him in the fight shortly. It finally ended up on the floor, and was decapitated by a machete blow. Yesterday then they cleaned out the cupboard, finding a rat's nest in it, which would explain all the noises they've been hearing as the young rats grew up. Ugh. I'm not the least bit envious!

Yesterday we had a lizard attempt to join us for lunch. Just as lunch was about over, we saw this little brown lizard perkily staring at us from the other side of our table. I got the dearest video of Jaron chasing it with a flyswatter handle, all around the table and over some chairs, Eliott and Leanna laughing hysterically over it. It finally got so tired out Jere caught it with his hands and brought it outside to the porch, where it was watched and examined for some time.

 

 

Last evening we had a "campfire" and brat roast. A pretty big treat for down here! Right in the middle of it Shana ran back to their house for something, and quickly returned saying there was another rat on top of their cupboard. Everyone else quickly scattered for shoes and rat fighting implements, and we heard some yelling from their house for a bit. They came back contented that the rat population was down one more, and finished their meal.

 

We were in the process of getting our children ready for bed last night when Anita was putting something away in the mission office which is in our house. She stopped short and said in a startled little voice that we had a visitor. I was sitting just outside the door, and I quickly tucked my feet up onto the chair! Others came running to look, and said it was an 8 legged visitor. I finally got brave enough to look, and here it was a big old tarantula sitting there on the floor! Shudder! Jere caught the thing and put it in an empty container. then into the freezer. He's hoping to preserve it somehow and bring it home. Any votes on whether that should be a go or not?! :-P I'm seriously hoping that the little critters are more on the ebb from now on. . . except I just saw a roach scuttling across the floor!