bugs, bugs go away

If there is one hard and fast rule that governs my home, it is this: Bugs do not belong. Beware any creepie-crawlies: you will be smashed and flushed without a second thought. I do not bother you in your space, don't you bother me in my space. (Besides, it gives me the willies to imagine any little creature crawling about my home just waiting to surprise me!)

My cat - and newfound hero - and I had an interesting experience last week. I had just come inside and much to my chagrin, a little gecko was resting on my living room wall! (I should mention here that I've had several traumatizing encounters with geckos). Now, of course it was not in the most convenient place for me to remove it. It was above the stairs just out of my reach. By now, Bashful had also spotted the creature and was eyeing it hungrily. At that point, I decided the two of us must become partners in order to catch the invader. I began pounding on the wall, trying to scare the gecko over to a wall where either of us could reach it. I even tried throwing a plastic cup at it, hoping to knock it off it's perch on my wall. No such luck. My attempts only caused the gecko to move further into the middle of the wall. Now what? I asked Bashful.

And then I had a brilliant idea - Bug spray! It had to do the trick! While shouting at Bashful to keep a watchful eye on the gecko, I ran downstairs to get my can of tropical splash bug spray. I ran back upstairs and joined the kitty on the living room banister behind the couch. Gingerly, I hung over the banister, pointed the spray can at the gecko, and pushed the lever. A very stunned gecko fell off the wall. Woohoo!! The job was almost finished. Bashful raced down the stairs and pounced on our prey. It was only a few minutes later that I was able to scoop up the poor gecko (minus his tail) and toss him outdoors. Phew! Mission accomplished!


(for those of you who like to read the epilogues of books, here is a quick note: I was shaking with relief at the end of this episode, Bashful got a handful of kitty treats, and he became my hero - at least for the day.)