“Guess what I found?” has been our newest game. It is kind of like the chance card on Monopoly. This could be something beneficial or not so much.
For instance, one of our first “guess what I found” moments was when I found the passionfruit flowers and fruit. Then another one was finding this creepy centipede in the palm trees.
We have heard that Puerto Rico has no venomous snakes or spiders, but that you do have to watch out for these guys! Also, the ants are intense! Tiny little ants that feel like someone just threw a bunch of needles at your feet. We have been having a hard time feeding Kitty because only about 5 minutes after we set his food down the ants swarm his dish like a petri dish. And if you try to move it they start biting you! We are definitely going to have to find a solution for that!
As for Kitty himself, he spends almost his entire day as a lump under the covers of the bed.
He’s lump, he’s lump, he’s lump, he’s in our bed.
Kitty is definitely still freaked out. He comes out for a couple of hours a day, but if he hears the leaves rustle or any loud sound, he scurries back under the covers to hide. I took him out with me up on top of the cabana just to show him that there really is nothing to be afraid of, but I don’t think he believed me.
Kitty and me under the big mango tree
We are still doing quite a bit of work on the landscaping and have finally been able to drive the car into the courtyard after clearing away some massive weed trees that grew about three inches thick in just those past nine months. Britton bought a bow saw (thanks Matt for the recommendation) and hacked those things down.
I am bringing out a lot of Spanish vocabulary I haven’t had to use much in an office setting. Saw=Sierra, Wire=Alambre, Piedra de afilar= Sharpening stone, etc. Good practice using Spanish in our new daily life when we say “guess what I found” in the hardware stores.
A lot of you are worried we are working too much. Don’t worry. We also know how to play! We have gotten out and met some people too. We visited a few friends and played a little poker. We are planning on going to a concert event in Aguadilla this Saturday and we have taken lots of naps and eaten lots of “guest-what-I-found” delicious fruits from our property, the Econo or Edwards Grocery Stores or from the fruit vendors parked on the side of the road.
Not sure what these are…quenepas? They are from the property but mostly a huge seed inside
We have had a couple of other “guess what I found” moments. Britton was up on the top of the cabana with the laptop to transfer some pictures. He yelled down to me, “guess what I found?!” and I yelled back, “Um, cat poop?” and we laughed because apparently the roof of the cabana had been used by the local cats as a poop hot spot…but it turned out to be an ACTUAL hot spot. We found open WIFI on our roof! So great! I am standing here on top of the roof overlooking the wooden house and ocean writing this!
The not-so-great thing is what we did NOT find in our bags….our camera battery charger. I think we left it plugged into the wall in our kitchen in Greeley! Ugh. Once our battery runs out we won’t be able to take more pictures or videos, so we are going on a quest to try and find one (Mom if you read this can you check in our Greeley house?).
So daily we have little wins and little challenges. It has been the perfect balance. We still have a few things we need to sort out like the zafacones for the Rincon trash pick up are apparently all out, so we have to haul out any trash we make.
All in all, every day has been an adventure with new finds around every corner.
That bug is a millipede, not a centipede, and it is locally known as a gongolí. You don’t have to worry about it because it can’t sting or bite. It will curl up in a circle to protect itself from predators and it is common to see young boys chasing their sisters with one of those in hand.
Here is a local news report where you can see people handling them with their bare hands.
http://puertorico.univision.com/videos/video/2013-03-04/estudiaran-el-gongoli-arboreo
I don’t know if a pet can get sick by eating one of those but my cats have never bothered with them so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Centipedes, however, do sting. They’re known locally as cien piés or alacranes and they look like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLMROndLl3w
Their venom hurts but it isn’t deadly unless you develop a freak allergic reaction. They’re also quite rare. I see gongolíes on a weekly basis but I’ve only seen alacranes twice.
I also have a problem with ants. If you find a solution let me know because I could certainly use one. Because of the ant problem I can’t leave cat food unattended on a plate. What I do is feed my cats twice a day as much as they can eat and then throw away or store the leftovers. It might take a while for your cat to get used to this routine but he will quickly learn that if he doesn’t clean up his plate he will be hungry for the rest of the day. No snacking during the day for kitty!
I hope that he gets used to his new home soon. Cat noses and ears are way more powerful than ours and the sounds and smells of your own private jungle must be driving him insane.
Hi there, I shipped our battery charger to you today. Hopefully you will have it soon!!
Put the cat food bowl on a plate of water – ants won’t cross the moat. Works for food too – ants will even get into your microwave if you try storing bread in there! Katrina
Watch out for the big red centipedes that are in the ground when you start your gardening I have seen them as big as 6 to 8 inches long and they are poisonous.
Wow Katrina…that is great advice! I was worried about Kitty. Keep him under your blanket…at least you know where he is…I would be afraid if he gets curious and gets lost in our jungle.
Hi Jamie! Thanks for sending that, you are our savior! Of all the things we’d forget somehow….
I will try the moat to keep the ants out of his food. I think he may not like to eat now because of a run-in with the local ant population.
I will also be on the lookout for the red centipedes…. I’ve heard you can sell them.
Looks like the two of you are busy. I hear lots of “jungle” noises in your video. Much different than mooing cows!
Katrina, excellent advice! and good to know! We are at our “casa dos” this weekend in the Adirondack Mountains but thinking of you guys! Casa tres in just a few weeks (ok 6 weeks).
Can’t wait!
The cien piés or alacranes is exactly what I was talking about “adolfojp” is right they move very fast. I found them in the ground when we were digging out our footers for bedroom addition.
Take Care
Guess what I found!!! The thermostat to turn on the furnace because its supposed to get down to 31 degrees tonight.
Hi Cassie! Ants are quite problematic but can be managed. They find food by leaving a scent trail for other ants to follow so it is important to disrupt the trail either by cleaning or you can try something like corn starch which they take back to the nest as food but cantcan’t actually digest so they die and it also breaks the scent trail. Try putting the dish in different locations so they cantcan’t find it until you get the ants under control. So for control, you need to find the nest. Follow the trail of ants, it should lead you to the nest. Then use whatever means you are comfortable with to destroy the nest. Also notice where the ants are entering the house and set some traps. For any bites, apply vinegar immediately to the bite then wash with soap and water and cover so you dontdon’t scratch. This should significantly reduce itching/burning. Also do not leave any food out. Anything opened needs to go in a sealed container or in the fridge. Never ever eat in your bed, trust me on this one! ImI’m going to tag my friend melanieMelanie to your facebookFacebook page. She is a good person to know. She runs Momma Mels childcare center in Rincon.
Hi Cassie and Britton
The ants you described are fire ants, nasty little critters. I would suggest you purchase a bottle of Benydryl spray, takes the itch out pretty quickly, you don’t want to scratch and get infected. i’m not partial to poisons so if you come across their nest (ant hill) you can sprinkle some corn meal moat around the hill. they ingest it and can’t digest, that kills them somewhat. A little dawn dish detergent in water used as a spray kills them on contact too.
you’ll have to be consistant but if you want to get rid of them.
the fruits in britton’s hand looks like quenepas, if it’s pink fleshy meat around a large white pit, it’s probably a quenepa. would’ve been able to tell if one would have been open. Delicious BTW.
I see you guys have finally made your move to Rincon, great, good luck. Oh yes, another thing that was mentioned here, pica pica, looks like 4-6 inch brown furry cat tails in little bunches when they’re ripe, greenish when they’re new, extremely irritating and the wind blows those hairs everywhere so be cautious. If you try to rid them wear long sleeves, pants,shoes and spray them with water to keep the hairs from flying around to much.
The water dish for the cat food seems to be working! I like it.