A New Predator

Can I take back all my complaints about cockroaches? And ants? And bees? And geckos? Although really, I like the geckos, they just startle me more times than not. The other day a baby one clung to my sandal (that was on my foot) when I was sweeping the floor.

Seems we have a new pest. One that makes me want to vomit just thinking about it.

Yesterday I was peeling a mango and noticed a couple brown spots. No big deal, I thought, it is produce, after all. Then I noticed a little white, wiggling worm. A maggot. In my mango.

*vomit*

I did what any person not raised around lots of bugs would do: I threw it in the trash. I didn't stop to think that maybe I should try to kill the maggot before tossing it in a container full of discarded food. This morning I pulled out the trash and, you guessed it, maggots. Plural.

I ran the bag downstairs to the garbage bins (we don't really have bins but that sounds nicer than the garbage pile on the sidewalk) before more could escape, but when I returned to the kitchen, they were all over the floor. I sprayed them with all kinds of cleaners, but they kept on inching across the floor. I was forced to do something that I avoid as best I can.

I squished them.

*vomit*

Not with my bare hands! Oh god, no. With many paper towels (I swear I'm trying to be an environmentalist) soaked in bug spray. That seemed to work. Ibis and I went for a long walk, and when I returned, more maggots. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from so this time, I pulled out the big gun: bleach.

I bleached the entire floor, then scrubbed every surface in my kitchen. Two hours later, I think I may have won.

This round.