So, one day recently I noticed one of our cats staring at something on the back (interior) side of the front door. When I got closer, I saw 3 winged bugs clinging to the door, and thought, "Uh oh...three of the same kind of bug? That's a lot!" Oh, how naive and foolish I was two weeks ago. I was trying to decide how to remove them when I heard this kind of clicking, fluttering noise on the other side of the door. Believe me, I considered not opening it. In fact, I considered never opening the front door again for the rest of my life if that was what it took to never find out what horrible thing was happening on the other side, but curiosity got the better of me, so I peeked. And then I hollered, "CHARLES!!!! I NEED YOU!! AND BRING BUG SPRAY!!!!!!!"
He walked up with Ant & Wasp killer in hand, and immediately started laying to waste the bajillion bugs that were rustling all over the bottom of the storm door where they had slipped in and were working their way up the door frame. We didn't immediately know what they were, we just knew we didn't want them to get any further inside. They died quite politely - no resistance whatsoever. Basically, they were all, "Hello there! We're brand new bugs who just came to life underneath your house and flew out in a humongous swarm, and now we're going out into the world to --- oh, we're dead."
Here are some pictures of the battlefield still covered in corpses and bug spray:
Once we were sure they were dead, and that the hellhole from which they spewed forth had also been doused with poison, we discussed what kind of bugs they could be. I pretty much knew right away, almost without even really looking at them. Considering the long, long, LOOOOONG list of costly home repairs we have had, it only stood to reason that these were termites. Charles kept saying they were probably mayflies, because he is an adorably optimistic person. But, sure enough, he took some of the bugs in to work where a woman whose husband is in pest control said he would take a look at them, and he confirmed...termites. Of course. The only thing that might have been worse would be a swarm of killer bees nesting in our walls, but you know, I'm not going to rule them out either. It's very possible we just haven't discovered the killer bees and won't even know they are there until they start working their way indoors and murder our pets one by one while we're at work.
Obviously, we will have to address the termite issue eventually, and hopefully can do so once we are done paying for the vet bills. Meanwhile, I hope our guests are enjoying the feast on all of our delicious lumber. We are nothing if not good hosts.
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lisa_e_is_me's journal
Someday our house will just collapse into a pile of dust thanks to these bastards.