The cool season in Thailand (November through February) is a blessed respite not only from the heat, but from the bugs as well. I'm not sure exactly where all the little multiple legged critters vacation during the days that the temps dip into the 60's, but you can be sure that I don't miss them a bit. Food crumbs on the floor go uneaten. There's hardly a need to slap a mosquito or a fly. It's a blessedly quiet time of year. Unfortunately sometime during the hot and dry season, that sometimes has rain (March through May), those bugs that were relaxing by the beaches south of here come back in a major wave of...bugginess. The first is the elusive and unbelievable furry caterpillar. I have never been afraid or intimidated by furry caterpillars. As a child I would collect many furry caterpillars and place them in jars with twigs and leaves, covered by a saran-wrapped top with a rubber band to hold it in place and then of course, so the furry caterpillar could “breathe” I would dutifully poke small holes in the wrap with a pencil. So, I have never been afraid or intimated by furry caterpillars. I almost laughed out loud at our friend here who first told us about a certain type of furry caterpillar, which I’m pretty sure we don’t have in the Midwest. This caterpillar, he said, has fur that falls off and if you get any on your skin it’ll make you itch like crazy! Even if the fur is on the ground and a little bit gets on your skin, it’ll cause a reaction. Of course I thought that was ridiculous, until I experienced it first-hand. I was visiting a friend’s house with Ray. They gave him a few bananas and as he was eating them we all noticed that there were several furry caterpillars on the bananas and crawling on the outside of his shirt. The hostess was obviously worried for Ray. I didn’t think it was a big deal until he started crying and a few minutes later I looked at his torso and he was covered in red, splotchy welts which obviously itched like crazy. It took several hours for the swelling to go down and I am now a fear-filled furry caterpillar watcher. Those guys are seriously evil! This time of year they apparently live in the grass until it gets hot and then they migrate to cooler places, like our houses. For the most part they stay on the outside of the walls of the house, thankfully.
Another buggy part of this time of year is the various flying insects that are attracted to light, namely our porch light or any light that is shining out of a screened window. One night we were eating dessert and a crowd of kids starting gathering on our back step. I thought they would be interested in having some of our chocolate brownies…..instead they were gathering their own delicacy, bugs to fry up and snack on! Shiver, shiver.
Last night was the return of the may flies that find their way into any lighted crack in the house. Proceed to fly towards the lighted ceiling bulbs for a few minutes (what is the attraction to light anyways?) and then fall on the ground, drop their wings off and crawl around like crazy. This was the last straw. I shut off all the lights except the outside ones, opened the door and let them out. Unfortunately this morning the early sunrise showed quite a bit of carnage. Tonight’s plan? Lights off at dusk so those bugs can find another light to follow.
