KILL THE BASTARDS. By "the bastards" I mean the sound of summer that is in my bedroom walls. Over the course of summer, from time to time I have heard crickets chirping in my daughter's bedroom wall. I never thought too much of it because it doesn't wake her up... well, if it does, she doesn't cry and I am unaware.
Last night around 3:30 I was awoken by the sounds and movements of hubby climbing out of bed seemingly pissed off. Of course, 1/2 asleep I asked what was wrong. His reply 'you don't hear that cricket?' (I'm pretty sure profanity was thrown in there, however, I don't remember the exact choice word and even so it probably won't be appropriate since I've already said bastard 2... oops... 3 times in this post). Before he hurled himself from bed and thrashed about I hadn't really noticed our little cricket friend chirping away in the wall and then... it was all I heard and sleep was done for the night. Apparently a cricket or two have taken up residence in the siding on my house, as the bugman has told me they sometimes do in the fall, and has proceeded to chirp his little legs off all night. Finally, after realizing sleep was no longer going to occur I hurled myself from bed and went to the living room to browse the internet. Guess what... the sounds of summer were in full effect in the exterior wall of the living room as well.
First thing, after arriving to work nearly 30 minutes late (I managed to fall back asleep 30 minutes before I needed to get up and then slept right through my alarm), I called the bugpeople that do our annual termite inspection. A cheerful voice answered the phone. The first and only thing I said before pausing for her response was "I have crickets in my walls". She was a little puzzled but said she would have the technician call me. I asked how long she thought it would be before he could come to my house and she said he would have to call me but it could probably be some time this week. Well I'll be shitted and damned. Sometime this week(???) and in the mean time my walls and singing and chirping. I figured that was the best answer I was going to get and told her thank you. Just an hour or so later I received a call that the bugman could come and spray in and out (I guess so the crickets don't get mad about spray being on the outside and decide to come in instead of go out) at 2:00 today. I live 30 minutes from work and only have 1 hour for lunch for I knew I'd be longer and later but I asked my boss if I could take a late lunch anyhow. He's a good guy and of course said that was fine. I called and scheduled my appt. 2:00 bugman came and sprayed... very thoroughly too. I don't see many bugs in the house and I've never seen a cricket in the house but I figured it was best to let him do his thing. He was there about 45 minutes spraying his little heart out (even sprayed some of my fire ant hills).
Before the bugman left he told me if I still hear my little sounds of summer within a week to give them a call back and he would come bait them around the perimeter of the house. Good stuff. So today, Ashygirl and I came home from work and on the front porch I found my first twitching cricket. As I watched him laying on his back... I gave an evil, evil laugh and didn't think much about it the rest of the evening. I fell asleep on the couch around 8:30 or 9:00, woke up around 12:00, made Ashley's lunch and walked back to the bedroom to listen for a minute. I cut the light on and stood in SILENCE and then... guess who got the last laugh? Apparently the brother of the twitching cricket on my front porch that has since been killed. I told him I'd get him but I'm not sure he was listening cause he still hasn't packed his stuff and left yet. Perhaps he's waiting for me to call him a cab.
So maybe, hopefully, pray for me, he and the rest of his crew will be gone within the week.
Wikipedia has provided me with the following information:
In Barbados, a loud cricket means money is coming in; hence, a cricket must not be killed or evicted if it chirps inside a house. However, another type of cricket that is less noisy forebodes illness or death. (Forde 1988) In Zambia, the Gryllotalpa africanus cricket is held to bring good fortune to anyone who sees it (Mbata 1999).
Crickets are popular pets and are considered good luck in Asia, especially China where they are kept in cages (Carrera 1991). It is also common to have them as caged pets in some European countries, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. Cricket fighting as a gambling or sports betting pastime also occurs, particularly in Macao.
The folklore and mythology surrounding crickets is extensive. [1]
The singing of crickets in the folklore of Brazil and elsewhere is at times taken to be a sign of impending rain, or of a financial windfall. In Brazilian history, the sudden chirping of a cricket heralded the sighting of land for the crew of captain Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, just as their water supply had run out. (Lenko and Papavero 1996).
Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets mate in late summer and lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring and they usually hatch in groups of 2,000.[
SHIT. I have evicted the crickets that began chirping 1 night after hubby and I figured out we could and are going to be DEBT FREE w/in the next 36 months. Oh what have I done? Perhaps, if I'm lucky, they've mated in the wall and the eggs will hatch in the spring in #'s close to 2,000! YIPPY!
Here's to hoping the windfall comes our way despite the eviction notice...
Last night around 3:30 I was awoken by the sounds and movements of hubby climbing out of bed seemingly pissed off. Of course, 1/2 asleep I asked what was wrong. His reply 'you don't hear that cricket?' (I'm pretty sure profanity was thrown in there, however, I don't remember the exact choice word and even so it probably won't be appropriate since I've already said bastard 2... oops... 3 times in this post). Before he hurled himself from bed and thrashed about I hadn't really noticed our little cricket friend chirping away in the wall and then... it was all I heard and sleep was done for the night. Apparently a cricket or two have taken up residence in the siding on my house, as the bugman has told me they sometimes do in the fall, and has proceeded to chirp his little legs off all night. Finally, after realizing sleep was no longer going to occur I hurled myself from bed and went to the living room to browse the internet. Guess what... the sounds of summer were in full effect in the exterior wall of the living room as well.
First thing, after arriving to work nearly 30 minutes late (I managed to fall back asleep 30 minutes before I needed to get up and then slept right through my alarm), I called the bugpeople that do our annual termite inspection. A cheerful voice answered the phone. The first and only thing I said before pausing for her response was "I have crickets in my walls". She was a little puzzled but said she would have the technician call me. I asked how long she thought it would be before he could come to my house and she said he would have to call me but it could probably be some time this week. Well I'll be shitted and damned. Sometime this week(???) and in the mean time my walls and singing and chirping. I figured that was the best answer I was going to get and told her thank you. Just an hour or so later I received a call that the bugman could come and spray in and out (I guess so the crickets don't get mad about spray being on the outside and decide to come in instead of go out) at 2:00 today. I live 30 minutes from work and only have 1 hour for lunch for I knew I'd be longer and later but I asked my boss if I could take a late lunch anyhow. He's a good guy and of course said that was fine. I called and scheduled my appt. 2:00 bugman came and sprayed... very thoroughly too. I don't see many bugs in the house and I've never seen a cricket in the house but I figured it was best to let him do his thing. He was there about 45 minutes spraying his little heart out (even sprayed some of my fire ant hills).
Before the bugman left he told me if I still hear my little sounds of summer within a week to give them a call back and he would come bait them around the perimeter of the house. Good stuff. So today, Ashygirl and I came home from work and on the front porch I found my first twitching cricket. As I watched him laying on his back... I gave an evil, evil laugh and didn't think much about it the rest of the evening. I fell asleep on the couch around 8:30 or 9:00, woke up around 12:00, made Ashley's lunch and walked back to the bedroom to listen for a minute. I cut the light on and stood in SILENCE and then... guess who got the last laugh? Apparently the brother of the twitching cricket on my front porch that has since been killed. I told him I'd get him but I'm not sure he was listening cause he still hasn't packed his stuff and left yet. Perhaps he's waiting for me to call him a cab.
So maybe, hopefully, pray for me, he and the rest of his crew will be gone within the week.
Wikipedia has provided me with the following information:
In Barbados, a loud cricket means money is coming in; hence, a cricket must not be killed or evicted if it chirps inside a house. However, another type of cricket that is less noisy forebodes illness or death. (Forde 1988) In Zambia, the Gryllotalpa africanus cricket is held to bring good fortune to anyone who sees it (Mbata 1999).
Crickets are popular pets and are considered good luck in Asia, especially China where they are kept in cages (Carrera 1991). It is also common to have them as caged pets in some European countries, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. Cricket fighting as a gambling or sports betting pastime also occurs, particularly in Macao.
The folklore and mythology surrounding crickets is extensive. [1]
The singing of crickets in the folklore of Brazil and elsewhere is at times taken to be a sign of impending rain, or of a financial windfall. In Brazilian history, the sudden chirping of a cricket heralded the sighting of land for the crew of captain Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, just as their water supply had run out. (Lenko and Papavero 1996).
Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets mate in late summer and lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring and they usually hatch in groups of 2,000.[
SHIT. I have evicted the crickets that began chirping 1 night after hubby and I figured out we could and are going to be DEBT FREE w/in the next 36 months. Oh what have I done? Perhaps, if I'm lucky, they've mated in the wall and the eggs will hatch in the spring in #'s close to 2,000! YIPPY!
Here's to hoping the windfall comes our way despite the eviction notice...
1 comment:
I hate crickets, too! We get them usually around our foundation in our house and you can't get to them...bastards!
That's awesome about knowing when you'll be debt free! We are working on our zero based budget still, which is hard to do for us due to the commissions. We're trying though and can't wait for the class on the debt snowball. I think this weeks class is about getting a bargain. I'll fill you in about that!
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