Bugs....

As everyone reading this blog knows, we are very happy with our decision to move to a nice warm climate with beaches, palm trees, sunshine and all of things we need every day to make life wonderful. We enjoy the natural beauty that Mother Nature brings to us here in Puerto Vallarta, and it is a joy to be here. We have seen everything from turtles to whales in the bay, flowers of every colour and description, fresh fish at the beach and on our plates, green man-eating crocodiles in the mire of local waterways and green chirping parakeets high in the mango trees. Yes, the flora and fauna of Mother Nature are perfect here except for one small thing...bugs.

I sometimes believe they are microscopic flying raptors that were created from the DNA cauldron when the massive meteorite slammed into the Yucatan basin millions of years ago. Minuscule and near invisible, “No See Ums” are the blood sucking scourge of the tropics. They actually look like very small mosquitoes or sand flies – about 2mm long. They are also referred to as biting midges or gnats. It doesn't help to stay indoors behind closed doors and windows because they can zip right through mosquito mesh with plenty of room for their luggage. It seems they travel with their family. When they decide to join you, at least three or four of these tiny devils arrive at the same time and they roam around until they find a nice juicy spot to enjoy their snack. You know when it happens - they just consumed the side of your face, or the back of your leg, but you can't see them so you swat several places a fast as you can. It doesn't matter how hard you swat as they always seem to survive and you hear a faint zing as they laugh and fly away. They are very good at timing their imbibing to when you are raising a wine glass or reaching into a molcajete bowl (hot lava dish) to get at some delicious shrimp, and then the predictable mess follows. Aaargh... They sometimes leave a lasting memory of their visit as the itchy sore that comes with their sting often produces a yellow ooze that that gets crusty when it dries. It could take weeks for it to go away.

Another small visitor are those tiny little strings of ants that find their way into everything. They seem to be able to find any small scrap of food (or a dead bug that meets his demise after our Raid events) and their scouts seem to be able to get support to descend and form into a small ball of movement to consume it. They don't bite us or cause us to be alarmed but it is certainly annoying to see their single file marching everywhere – especially across the kitchen counter. We keep our dried food goods in sealed freezer bags which are then stored in large plastic totes on our shelves. The totes keep out larger bugs and the freezer bags keep out the little ones. Thankfully, they won't go near it if they can't smell it.

There are a few places on the beach where we have found nests in the sand or at the foot of palm tree that are home to sand wasps. These black and golden yellow stingers are about 2-1/2 inches long and have the ability to hover in one place just like one of those Harrier Jets they have on air craft carriers. The wind produced by their wings moves sand particles to uncover hidden nest openings. The nests are accessed through holes dug in the sand – picture a dog digging and the sand shooting out from behind back legs - with several of these openings leading to a hidden central hive. The sting from these can be serious so we just keep our distance and try not to bother them. It's good to know where they are so you don't step on the nest.

Welcomed small visitors are the little geckos that wiggle wobble and scurry when we get a glimpse of them. They eat mosquitoes and those little ants, and just about any other small bug that they can get their hands on. Hooray for geckos!. Cyndi started naming them when we first got here but then Archie got pinched in a window jamb and she cried. No more naming the geckos... We have seen then in all sizes from 1/2 inch long babies to 4 inches long mature geckos. They like to hide behind the pictures on our walls and we see them peek out and then zip back into hiding again. They wait until we are quiet or sleeping to come out to have their nightly fun. They do have one draw back - they are a bit messy and leave little poops everywhere they go.

Mosquitoes and house flies are just another annoyance like they are in most other places. The new concern with the Zika virus makes it more complicated and the gardeners in our complex are proactive to spray the gardens and trees. We still see them in our house and Raid comes to our rescue. It's the middle of night mosquito attack with that high pitch whine right in our ear, inches from landing, that make us react and then wake up in the morning with a nice red hand-slap mark on our own foreheads.

Termites... something relatively new to us and we have discovered that they really like to hollow out the insides of our kitchen shelving. They leave behind little brown / black crumbs or dark sand-like material. One shelf was starting to sag and luckily we noticed their evidence just in time before our collection of wine and liquor bottles got transferred unceremoniously to the tile floor. The old shelf was taken out and it had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. They like to chew length wise through the wood so they can be in there for a long time without you knowing. One day our bathroom door frame (which is set into the cement walls) started to show they had moved in. The evidence of their handy work was on the floor and we had to have the landlord's workmen come by with tools to remove / replace wood and toxic sprays to (hopefully) solve the problem.

Close to last but not least are the Cucarachas... they especially become a problem when the rains begin as they need a dry place to hang out in. They are related to the termite family. This is probably the most prevalent insect here and we see them dead and alive almost everywhere we go. The largest we have seen here are about 3 inches long. We have been very lucky in that we have only had one incident where they tried to make a home with us. Our landlord purchased a new dining room set for us as the old one was falling apart. She purchased a new handmade table and chair set made from local wood materials and cow hide. It is very Mexican in appearance and this furniture is found in many homes and restaurants. We would have preferred something else but she bought them anyway. Here is an excerpt from an email that I sent to our landlord:

...Just a heads up - we found several baby cockroaches on the new dining furniture and so I turned the furniture upside down and sprayed it with RAID then the floor got littered with dead baby roaches. I will spray one more time before we leave for our walk today. More info to follow.... ...your handyman just finished spraying the new dining furniture. He looked at the dead bugs that came out of the furniture and he confirmed that they are baby cockroaches. He also said there are probably more cockroach eggs still in the furniture and so he really soaked all of the chairs and the table it in the hope that the residue spray would kill any other bugs that might hatch from the eggs. Thank you for sending him over here again.

We have also found what we think are little tiny spider mites that like to enjoy small nibbles when they find us. They are about the size of a pencil dot. We are not sure but we think they find a home in upholstered chairs or cushions that you find at restaurants, and take advantage when a nice warm body shows up. When you feel them you naturally brush them away like any other itch and then don't get the chance to see what it was. They are black and feel like a small grain of sand. I have managed to “capture” one in a tissue and look at it with a magnifying glass. Very small and annoying, just a dot for a body and very short legs.

We also get visited by many more unknown scary things that fly into our living room and have to be scooted out with a pillow or with the wave of a hand. We don't want to know what they are and are very happy when they go on their way.

Needless to say, Raid and Off are good friends of ours. And lastly, and thankfully, our time here has not included bed bugs. Let's hope that continues.