Tuesday, June 11, 2013

An UNwanted Guest

We have a tree frog on board, not inside but somewhere under the rig. Sparky hasn't seen him yet, Eldo has...He's BIG! About six inches. That's big for a tree frog, right? We've heard him for weeks around the rear wheel well. First we thought it was DUCKS! It sort of sounded like ducks quacking....Then, after listening more carefully, and hearing the same sound in the woods around the RV park, we knew it was the sound of a tree frog.
web photo
Sparky is nervous, she does NOT want to encounter a tree frog in the house like she did the one time we were driving down the road and a slimy little frog (which seemed HUGE at the time) was in the hallway staring at her with its big eyes as she went to use the bathroom. She screamed "E-E-E-K!" The frog screamed. Sparky jumped back. The frog jumped to the fridge with his webby little feet and stuck himself to the door. Eldy was hollering, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON BACK THERE!?" as he was driving. Sparky was frantically trying to find a cup to capture the frog. Which she did. We let him out later in a small town. Or rather, Sparky unceremoniously flung him out the door into a nearby grassy knoll as we rolled to a stop at an intersection.

Where is this latest tree frog sighting? Last seen this morning climbing up the outside side of the bedroom slide, where he disappeared into the top opening between the topper and the slide.....ugh.....Sparky did a really reading on tree frogs this morning. They normally reside in trees..."HELLO-O-O, FROG! Time to get back to your habitat!" They spend most of their time in trees UNLESS THEY ARE MATING....Oh, crap! Hope a froggie family is not in residence in and around the rig! And hope it is NOT a Cuban tree frog which has become yet another invasive species here in Florida. The Cuban tree frogs are BIGGER and make more noise.. ugh again!  We're going to see if we can find him today. Eldy has previously spotted him climbing the rig and knocked him off the side of the motorhome twice. Wonder what the attraction is on the RV? Must look like a big ole tree to him and it's easy climbing for his webby little feet......UGH! (Can you tell Sparky doesn't like those cute little tree frogs? asks E.)
haha, can't find me, can you?
We have other unwanted guests now and then...Like tiny little ants...In Alabama, they told us they were sugar ants. Somebody else here in Florida said when we asked about little tiny ants around here, "Oh, those are probably Caribbean crazy ants." They call them that because they are so erratic in their traveling patterns....They are a smallish 2.5-3mm in size, golden brown, reddish brown ant. According to pest control companies, they are hard to control and hard to get rid of! Somebody told us they were brought into Florida to control the fire ant problem, that crazy ants eat fire ants, but Sparky can't find any information on that. We're just glad they don't bite and spraying around our site seems to take care of them! So maybe they are sugar ants after all!

So far, in our travels in the past three years, we have encountered: tree frogs, sugar ants, crazy Caribbean ants (?), fire ants, stink bugs, palmetto bugs (aren't they the same as stink bugs? wonders E.) Not sure but add box elder bugs, no see-ums, and the usual black flies and mosquitoes to the list. Eldo says he can't think of anything else. Sparky says, that's enough of a list, for sure!

Enough bug talk for now...Bye-bye and see you later.....



6 comments:

  1. I think frogs are one of the ugliest creatures on earth. No Thank You!

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  2. But the frogs eat the bugs ro help keep you bug free.

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  3. Palmetto bugs are just big roaches. Stink bugs are smaller and flatter and will multiply quickly.

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  4. I actually like frogs. We too have had a frog with us in Alabama and Georgia and here although I haven't heard him recently. But he can stay if he will eat all those other things you mentioned. Although not so much if he "sings" while I'm sleeping.

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  5. ROFL! such a great word picture of flinging the frog out onto the grassy knoll. . .made my day!

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  6. One night in Fort Myers in the motorhome, a cold clammy feeling on my face woke me up. When I touched my face, a tree frog jumped off it onto the wall by our bed. I let out quite a scream. I was happy it didn't scare the frog away because Vic would never have believed me if he didn't see it. Fortunately, I love frogs but not on my face while sleeping!

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