Spiders
Yes there are plenty of spiders out here. The most common ones are the brown ones (pictured with the pencil), which are harmless. Though they do look pretty nasty and move pretty fast. There are some flat ones, which are not pictured but we have a couple in our choo (outside loo) - keeps us entertained when we’re relieving ourselves!
Brown Spider
We’ve also seen what we think are funnel web spiders. The only reason we think it’s a funnel web spider is because it decided to make a funnel web above the front door to our house! Not sure if they actually are, or how they relate to the deadly Australian variety. These photos were taken shortly before it got “Doom”-ed.
Funnel Web Spider 1
Funnel Web Spider 2
There’s also this very cool looking spider about 30m from our house. Not sure if its dangerous or not, but we’ve left it alone.
Cool Spider 1 (front view)
Cool Spider 2 (back view)
We found this hairy one under our bed, but as we moved the bag it was living in, it lost a couple of legs and also got a dose of “Doom”.
Spider Under Bed
This weird spider has massive arms which go out from it. It was pretty big, about 2-3”, and we found it in our bathroom. It got a dose of “doom” but was taking too long to die, so got an additional dose of my size 10 site boots.
Weird spider 1 (alive)
Weird Spider 2 (dead)
This spider was cool because it was carrying an egg sack. It was found outside the Helsby’s house.
Egg Sack Spider 1 (under side)
Egg Sack Spider 2 (top side)
We’ve had a few interesting experiences with scorpions, but thankfully have really felt God’s protection from them. We mentioned a couple of posts ago, that we found one in Esther’s nappy. Well this morning, Lucy was making the bed, and found one under her pillow! We though it was dead, but I poked it with a knife, and it was very much alive! We’ve also found one in the laundry bag a few weeks ago.
Scorpion 1 (found in house)
Scorpion 2 (found under Lucy's pillow)
Scorpion 1 (found in laundry bag)
Cockroaches
We’ve had a few cockroaches in the house, but they have been “Doom”-ed. There are also plenty in our choo. When I say in our choo, I mean literally in it! You look down the hole and they’re running round the sides of the pit. We do get the odd one running round the inside of the choo while we’re visiting. I suppose watching all these bugs in the choo are the African equivalent to reading magazines! ;-)
Dead Cockroach (sorry it's blurred)
Toads
We get loads of toads and frogs this time of the year as it’s the rainy season. When we have an evening rain, there is often a chorus of toads and frogs croaking away. We see quite a few outside our house in the evenings.
Toad Outside House
Snails
There are massive African snails out here, and are very prevalent in the evenings in the rainy season. Their shells are at least 3” in diameter, if not bigger.
Large Snail Outside House
Crickets and Grasshoppers
There are loads of crickets and grasshoppers out here. The evening air is filled with their song. We do get the odd one in our house, but again they are quickly dealt with!
Cricket
Grasshopper
Ants and Siafu
There are loads of ants and siafu here. I won’t talk too much about the siafu as I’ve already mentioned them in an earlier blog post (9 February 2010). Ants get everywhere, and are amazing at finding even the smallest crumbs of food around. We have a load by our sink that we see moving in lines trying to carry off a dead bug or a crumb of food.
Siafu
Snakes
There are snakes out here, though we’ve only seen two types – grass snakes and sand snakes, both of which are thankfully not poisonous. Though there are cobras, pythons, black mambas and puff adders, which are poisonous! Here are a couple we found, one while I was working on the pipeline! Who’s going to volunteer to turn on that valve?! There’s another risk for your risk assessment…
Grass Snake
Sand Snake on Valve in Manhole
Centipedes and Millipedes
We see quite a few centipedes around. They are pretty fat, long but generally harmless. If they feel threatened, they curl up into a spiral. Esther picked up one and brought it to me as a present! The millipedes aren’t very nice though. They bite and hiss, and are much smaller than the centipedes. I don’t think we’ve seen any, but we may have got them confused with what we think are small centipedes.
Large Centipede
Mice
Lucy found this mouse in amongst our dirty laundry in our house. You’ll be pleased to know that we released it outside our house unharmed. I know it looks cute and furry, but it is still vermin!
Mouse (found in laundry bag)
Lake Flies on Ceiling (gecko top right)
Lake Flies on Curtain
Dead Lake Flies on Esther's Seat (in the morning)
Wasps
The wasps here look pretty viscious, especially when you get a close look at their sting. Their stinger looks to be around 5-10mm long. However in our experience they seem pretty docile and unaggressive. They do fly in to our house, but just fly around in a very unannoying way, then just fly out again. Haven’t had any problems with them. The only slight problem they do cause is when they decide to build a nest in home appliances. The Helsbys found a nest in their barbecue. We took it out to find the nest filled with dead spiders which the spiders place there as food for the larvae, once their eggs hatch.
Wasp on Mosquito Net
Wasp Nest with Larvae Feeding on Dead Spiders
Dragonflies
The dragonflies are cool. They don’t bother us, but look like they’ve got pom-poms on their wings! When we go out walking, they follow us to see what bugs we may disturb so that they can feed on them.
Dragonfly with Pom-pom Wings
Butterflies
There are loads of very pretty butterflies around. Don’t really know anything more than their colour! But below is a selection of the ones we’ve seen.
Butterfly 1
Butterfly 2
Lizards and Geckos
There are plenty of lizards and geckos about. The lizards vary in colour, with the male ones being red and blue. The more colourful, the better they are at attracting a mate. The geckos are more pale and have sticky feet. We have quite a few living in the walls and roof of our house. We generally don’t mind having them in the house as they eat the other bugs. But they do often leave gecko poo lying around – often stuck to the walls! Sometimes, they fall off the ceiling and you hear this “splat” sound, and turn to see a rather dazed and confused gecko lying on the floor!
Lizard 1
Lizard 2
Gecko
Beetles
There are loads of beetles around, but we generally don’t see or hear then until the evening. We normally hear a loud buzzing, and then a collision into the mosquito screens! Plus we see some when we visit the choo in the evenings.
Beetle
Bugs in food
Oh yes, and how can we forget bugs in our food! We have ants in our sugar and these little bugs in our oats. For breakfast in the morning, we have oats with milk and sugar. We get the oats from the Helsbys, who buy it in bulk. Generally the first lot of oats tend to be fine, but as you work your way through the bag, the bugs find their way in, and by the end, you’re trying to pick out the bugs and their larvae before you eat the oats. Here’s a video clip of the additional protein in our cereal!
Video Clip of Bugs in Breakfast Oats and Ants in Sugar
Fish Eagle
A fish eagle nests on top of a tree by the Mavuno beach. It’s pretty cool. And obviously not a bug!
Perched Fish Eagle
Control Measures
So to combat the bugs, we either use “Doom” or just step on them. If they’re pretty big and will make a big mess, then we generally “Doom” them, sweep them up and chuck them out. Since we’ve put thresholds on the doors, the number of bugs we’ve found inside the house has substantially decreased. The reason the houses out here generally don’t have thresholds is that the Africans just like to sweep the dirt from their houses straight outside. They don’t bother with a dustpan. I definitely prefer the dustpan and threshold option due to the much fewer bugs!
Doom!
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