In addition to the bats, moles and other critters our Dachshund has brought in to the house, we can now add the following:

A baby snake.

This little dude was about 8 inches from tip to tail.  Not sure if he was poisonous or not, but we weren’t hanging around to find out! I’m just glad that Shrimp had the sense of mind to spit the snake out, rather than consuming it.  I brought him in for a quick photo shoot, and then deposited him back outside, far, far, far away from the house!

…with a swarm of critters. Another project we undertook this weekend was removing all the overgrown, weed-infested bushes around the perimeter of the house. A chainsaw, a rake and a lawnmower (plus two crazy people working in the heat) were all it took to take the bushes down…

What was more interesting was the sheer amount of creepy crawlies (and other small animals) that emerged as we tore down their home. I cannot count how many large spiders we encountered….

I’m not even sure what these two bugs were. Any ideas?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The first bug was relatively small, but the second bug was huge – about the width of Rick’s hand. At first we thought it was some kind of spider – we counted 8 legs.  But after closer inspection, it appeared as though the two longer “legs” were feelers, making it an insect of some sort.

We disturbed about a trillion of these green leaf-like bugs (can you tell I’m no entomologist?). Once we had removed their bushy abode, they took up residence all over the fascia of the house.  I am starting to understand exactly how many bugs exist out there in the world.  Did you know that there are approximately 10 quintillion insects on the planet – about 200 million insects for every human. I think about half of those insects were in our bushes…

In addition to the creepy crawlies, we found a few other surprise visitors.  Like this tiny, cobalt blue lizard:

and this adorable little frog:

Who knew that our house was a cornucopia of critters?

Don’t let this innocent face fool you. Puppy + small chihuahua teeth + insane amount of energy = chewed house. Reebs doesn’t chew the usual dog fare – shoes, bones, toys and so on.  Reebs is a true renovation dog – she likes to chew walls, wallpaper, insulation and siding. Yes, siding.

Now admittedly, the siding on the back of house by the deck wasn’t in the best of condition when we bought the house. It had already began to rot and tear away in some places.  So, in actuality, Reebs just sped the removal process along by chewing the siding off the house. And she made a good start on the underlying insulation too. Especially in the house.

When we replaced the old back door, we had to remove part of the walls, floor and subfloor to repair the rot and damage. We haven’t quite got around to covering the wall back up – so many projects, so little time yada, yada, yada. Since we moved the dog detention area from the dining room to the kitchen, Reebs has been going to town chewing on the walls.  She has completely chewed through the wall insulation from the inside, and with her siding project on the outside, she is well on her way to making her own little dog door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, this weekend, it was our priority to get the siding replaced. A couple of months ago, we bought some heavily discounted hardi-plank siding off Craigslist, in anticipation of this very project. So, we already had the materials and tools to hand.  The original siding came off with little problems. A few measurements, cuts and screws later, the replacement siding was up. 

It is not an exact match to the original siding, but it is a whole lot better looking than the half-chewed, half-rotting debacle that was there before. And hopefully, seeing as the new siding is hardi-plank, Reebs will not be able to chew through this stuff so easily! When in the yard, she’ll just have to amuse herself by chewing on some more bats, bugs and moles…

Just a quick update on our bat situation: our current number of bats found in the house now total 2!

Rick found a larger, live bat on the floor this morning. He gently picked it up and placed it on the counter, where it decided to spread its wings and open its mouth in protest. A quick check online told us we needed to place the bat in a ventilated container and out of harm’s way (i.e. the dogs’ teeth) and wait until dusk to release it back into the wild. Which is exactly what we did. Around 8pm tonight, we opened the container and left batfink (my affectionate name for the little rabies-infested cutie pie) on the deck railing, so he could make his way back into the world.  He eventually flew off into a nearby tree, and will hopefully live happily ever after eating all the bugs around our house in sincere gratitude for a comfy stay at Casa Hogan.

Since moving in, we’ve come into contact with our fair share of critters.  For instance, meet this friendly grub found in the framing of the old back door.  The rotting wood was an ideal home for this creepy crawly.

What about this furry fiend? Rick snapped a close-up of this moth on the kitchen window as it was drawn to the lights inside our house:

Of course, we have encountered many spiders around the house, ranging from the small ones that inhabit the corners of our windows, to the big ones (with extra long legs) that claim the ceiling corners in our bathroom as their home. We’ve ran across a number of ladybugs, especially in the attic. Rick has caught sight of a small black snake in the bushes at the front of our house. We’ve had rabbits and deer visit our home. But nothing is quite as strange as the ‘present’ that was left on the sofa the other day:

 

Can you tell what it is? It took me a second to figure out what little creature had been lovingly placed on my seat by one of the dogs (Reebs looked the most guilty). Yes, it’s a bat! We’ve seen the bats fly around outside the front door some evenings, but I haven’t got a clue where this little fella came from (or whether one of the dogs caught the bat or merely found it and brought it inside).

I grabbed a napkin from the side table, picked the bat up from the sofa and snapped a few more photos. The macabre juxtaposition of the dead bat with the Subway logo was unintentional, although it does give new meaning to their slogan – Subway, Eat Fresh. Would you like a side of bat with your sandwich? Would that make it a batwich?