Roommates, Creatures, and Vermin

Life with furniture is pretty incredible. I won't be in to Tenkodogo to use real internet to post pictures for a few more days, but for now I thought I'd tell y'all about the creatures in my life over here!

On the periphery, there are the chickens that sometimes wander into my courtyard, my neighbors' goats who graze in the fields around my house, and the cows that sometimes block the road.

HOWEVER! Here are the four that are really part of my life (in order from my feelings of amicable coexistence to utter loathing):

1. Lizards

(Status: Roommate)

One of the first things we noticed after we landed in Ouaga was that THERE ARE SO MANY LIZARDS EVERYWHERE. 

They come in a variety of sizes (I feel like I'm trying to sell lizards here, but it's true) but I'm not sure if they're different ages of the same type of lizard or different types altogether. 

The smallest ones are super cute, probably two inches long - and sometimes they're spotted!

Medium ones are most similar in size to geckos at home (or maybe just a touch bigger), although they're a bit wider and flatter (and brown), so not nearly as adorable.

The big guys are freaking huge - their bodies are usually a solid five inches long (and then plus tails) and about an inch wide. One volunteer has seen one of these eat a mouse!!!!

I generally feel very favorable towards the lizards because even though they hang out on the walls inside my house a lot, they pretty much stay out of my way. Also they eat bugs and have no interest in human food.

And they're just amusing!! They chase each other around my courtyard walls, and once, I opened my front door and the one on the screen door got so terrified that it kept falling off the wall in its attempt to run away. Maybe I should feel bad for finding that funny, but I really don't.

2. Ants

(Status: Roommate)

Several different types of ants, some bite and some don't, but ALL of them are super cool in that if I kill a cricket in my house, or drop a tiny speck of food, within minutes a little troop of ants will have arrived and removed it (and then disappeared again). It's really quite cool to see!

3. Bats

(Status: Creature)

There is a family of bats living in my latrine. Also the trees right outside my courtyard walls seem to be a popular neighborhood, because come dusk, there are tons swooping around.

They don't bother me much, but considering they could give me rabies if they ever chose to turn on me AND that they could fly out any time I'm doing my business in the latrine, I do regard them with a certain amount of wariness.

I have dubbed the latrine bats "the Addams Family" because they're a bit dark, but you know, not entirely unpleasant!

I like to think we've come to a bit of an understanding - I clack the latrine door shut a few times before going in, so they know I'm there and won't be tempted to fly out*. My initial thinking was that maybe the sound would hurt their delicate little ears, and then they would learn to associate the sound with a human presence. I'm not sure if it actually works, but there's been no wing-butt contact**, so it doesn't NOT work.

*I don't think Burkinabe bats know that they're supposed to be nocturnal.

**I have a volunteer friend who cannot say the same.

4. Mice

(Status: Vermin)

I despise mice. I had a constant visitor at my host families house, and it was awful. Needless to say, the first time I saw one at site I was not happy, but also not entirely surprised because there is a little hole in the corner of my extra room.

Silver lining: at least in my own house I can kill them.

So, yes, I've now killed two mice. Both were disgusting experiences. At first I couldn't find poison, so I had to use this weird sticky trap about the size of a piece of paper. It didn't even seem that sticky, so I was sure it would never work. 

Fortunately (or not, I still haven't really decided), it did work, and one morning I woke up and saw the mouse stuck to the cardboard. The image of a mouse trying to pull its skin from gluey cardboard will forever be burned in my memory.

A couple weeks later: another mouse. Found some poison this time, thank God. Not much better though - I was making my coffee and I hear a noise behind me. Mouse crawls slowly into my main room, pauses and stares at me, twitches a bit, and dies. YES, I LITERALLY WATCHED IT DIE OF POISON. 

Disturbing, but I really can't bring myself to feel bad because I HATE mice. Mostly I just want a cat to take care of any future intruders.

Note: As if mice eating your food and papers and just generally being disgusting wasn't enough, the mice here CLIMB WALLS. Literally climb up vertical walls. No, I don't know of any other type of walls, but seeing one in action (in my shed/storage building thing) was a truly terrifying sight. Nowhere is safe.

Notably absent:

1. Mosquitos:

Really don't notice them much. I pretty much stay inside once it starts getting dark, and the screen door/screens on windows make my house a safe haven. Sometimes one gets in but it never lasts long... :)

2. Flies:

Y'all know my opinions on the flies already (see my September post), and while those opinions have not changed, the flies have headed for greener pastures. No literally, I got some kids from my 5eme class to come dig up all the weedy grass that popped up in my courtyard at the end of rainy season and since then, the fly problem has been much better! 

Also I'm really glad I didn't try to do it all myself (as I had planned to do) because it took five kids almost an hour. More on children as minions in another post, because it really is amusing.

The end :)

xo, chlo