Happy Halloween?
Oct. 31st, 2017 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironic
I arrived home a little while ago after 7 days away and turned on all the lights to flush out any critters who'd ventured forth in the prolonged dark/quiet. (Normally not an issue, but there was a mouse sighting a few weeks back.) Sure enough, when I returned to the bedroom, the biggest house centipede I've ever seen had frozen halfway up the wall by the headboard. I don't even know how to describe its length and girth to you.
Cue a slow, don't-turn-your-back-to-it retreat into the living room to fetch the vacuum, because I've tried brooms and sponge mops with these guys and things don't end well.
Of course, when I hooked up all the hose extensions, climbed onto the bed and tried to suck it up, it made a dash for freedom before falling somewhere behind the radiator.
THE GOOD NEWS is that I don't have to write "and so I can never sleep in there again," because after I unpacked I spotted the little (giant) bugger on the under-rim of a lampshade and chased it around with the hose until it succumbed, following which I, uh, taped the hose shut in case it survived the trip.
(I suppose it's better than in college, when the centipedes always seemed to appear on the ceiling directly above a bed, instigating a staring contest in which you had to weigh the risk of slowly sliding away vs. it falling on your head?
In lighter Halloween events, Logan airport had decorations up in our terminal, including a cluster of foam tombstones that said things like:
Here is a non-scary critter story!
While in California I attended a talk by a scientist who did her PhD thesis on squirrels, specifically nut-caching habits. How do squirrels decide and remember where they store nuts? How frequently do they dig them up and move them around? What is the average forgetting rate? Who steals nuts from whom and how often?
Mid-presentation, she looked for her backpack on the lawn where we were all standing.
Scientist: Where is my storage bag?
Attendee: You can't even remember ONE nut.
Cue a slow, don't-turn-your-back-to-it retreat into the living room to fetch the vacuum, because I've tried brooms and sponge mops with these guys and things don't end well.
Of course, when I hooked up all the hose extensions, climbed onto the bed and tried to suck it up, it made a dash for freedom before falling somewhere behind the radiator.
THE GOOD NEWS is that I don't have to write "and so I can never sleep in there again," because after I unpacked I spotted the little (giant) bugger on the under-rim of a lampshade and chased it around with the hose until it succumbed, following which I, uh, taped the hose shut in case it survived the trip.
(I suppose it's better than in college, when the centipedes always seemed to appear on the ceiling directly above a bed, instigating a staring contest in which you had to weigh the risk of slowly sliding away vs. it falling on your head?
In lighter Halloween events, Logan airport had decorations up in our terminal, including a cluster of foam tombstones that said things like:
#BostonHumorRIP
For rent:
Small one-bedroom apartment
Here is a non-scary critter story!
While in California I attended a talk by a scientist who did her PhD thesis on squirrels, specifically nut-caching habits. How do squirrels decide and remember where they store nuts? How frequently do they dig them up and move them around? What is the average forgetting rate? Who steals nuts from whom and how often?
Mid-presentation, she looked for her backpack on the lawn where we were all standing.
Scientist: Where is my storage bag?
Attendee: You can't even remember ONE nut.
