From Bethany - Wild Life in Honduras
The insects range from the miniscule ant to the enormous tarantula and cockroach. No matter their size, they make their presence known. At first, we naively tried to battle the bugs- and found out just how strong the winning side was.
As soon as we moved into are house in Puerto Lempira, a colony of ants joined us. Sometimes their line is so thick you can’t see any of the white wall underneath them. The ants are not usually a nuisance unless, that is, you accidentally step in their line. Suddenly you’ll find a hundred ants crawling up your leg. Red ants are not that numerous and only my dad has been bit.
Due to the compost pile not 3 yards away from our home, we have many, many flies. I can hear a constant “Shoo! Shoo!” from the kitchen as my mother tries to keep the flies from landing on our food. Also, because of the cistern on our back porch, we have a problem with mosquitoes.
At night, the large spiders, cockroaches, and praying mantises come out to feast on the bugs congregating by our porch lights. Fifteen lizards, about 6 inches long, seem to come out of the woodwork to join the killing.
Another night visitor is a black street cat who comes for dinner. Slowly but surely the tiny cat is allowing us to pet it. In Cauquira, the Millers had found a gray cat who was extremely friendly and all of us loved having her around. However, within a week of moving to Puerto Lempira, she became sick one day and disappeared.
There are many emaciated stray cats and dogs roaming the streets. The dogs are not usually aggressive, and only one time have some tried to attack Chaela, Dad, and I when we were walking back from piano classes. Digna, our landlord, owns a small dog whom we named Corgee. He sleeps on our porch now and follows us around town. In Honduras, the idea of treating a dog nicely is a novel one.
Chickens and roosters are always strutting along the sides of the road and at this time of the year, are followed by many little chicks. That roosters crow only in the morning is a complete fantasy. They crow all day and, for that matter, all night.
Wouldn’t you love to visit Honduras?
As soon as we moved into are house in Puerto Lempira, a colony of ants joined us. Sometimes their line is so thick you can’t see any of the white wall underneath them. The ants are not usually a nuisance unless, that is, you accidentally step in their line. Suddenly you’ll find a hundred ants crawling up your leg. Red ants are not that numerous and only my dad has been bit.
Due to the compost pile not 3 yards away from our home, we have many, many flies. I can hear a constant “Shoo! Shoo!” from the kitchen as my mother tries to keep the flies from landing on our food. Also, because of the cistern on our back porch, we have a problem with mosquitoes.
At night, the large spiders, cockroaches, and praying mantises come out to feast on the bugs congregating by our porch lights. Fifteen lizards, about 6 inches long, seem to come out of the woodwork to join the killing.
Another night visitor is a black street cat who comes for dinner. Slowly but surely the tiny cat is allowing us to pet it. In Cauquira, the Millers had found a gray cat who was extremely friendly and all of us loved having her around. However, within a week of moving to Puerto Lempira, she became sick one day and disappeared.
There are many emaciated stray cats and dogs roaming the streets. The dogs are not usually aggressive, and only one time have some tried to attack Chaela, Dad, and I when we were walking back from piano classes. Digna, our landlord, owns a small dog whom we named Corgee. He sleeps on our porch now and follows us around town. In Honduras, the idea of treating a dog nicely is a novel one.
Chickens and roosters are always strutting along the sides of the road and at this time of the year, are followed by many little chicks. That roosters crow only in the morning is a complete fantasy. They crow all day and, for that matter, all night.
Wouldn’t you love to visit Honduras?
posted by Eric Stephens at 20:07
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