The Termites Started It!

   The termites started this battle of bugs around the Bayou.  After Hurricane Katrina nigh on twenty years ago, termites started munching on the mountains of debris that were left behind by the storm surge.  It took years for the Coast to scramble out from under the piles and piles of smashed houses and downed trees.  In that time, termites happily chomped away on the mess.  Then, those critters took flight and aggravated the daylights out of everyone.  Not many thought about how the termites that were swarming were leaving their handy debris pile homes to infiltrate the newly built or repaired structures.  So...the termites made themselves at home yet again.  Once folks became aware that their houses were in danger of being totally eaten, the war began.  People sprayed their homes and outbuildings in hopes of eradicating the critters.  Nope...it is not that simple.  The termites moved elsewhere and continued chomping now infesting live trees.  It took several years before anyone thought that the termites were killing trees!  And the swarms continued...until just about every tree along the Coast has been damaged, if not completely destroyed.  Well, the termites are on the move again to who knows where.  The swarms let us know that the battle has not ended.  It has only relocated.  

  Now, there is a "new kid" in town.  The Neoclytus scutellaris has made an appearance. This is also known as the Gray-winged Neoclyt-Borer and, as you can tell by its name, it eats wood.  Once the termites infested the live trees and weakened them to the point that they are literally dying, this critter came to take advantage of the situation.  The Gray-winged Neoclyt-Borer is almost exclusively associated with dead or dying oak trees.  This saddens me greatly as I have always loved the old oaks that dotted the property.  They stood through storms, fires and humans only to be taken down by some tiny critters.  I cannot be unduly furious with the borer as it is only finishing up the work started by the termites.  I do wonder just what is next on the agenda for those nasty termites.  I do believe it is high time they leave the Coast.  They have already pillaged extensively to the point that just mentioning their name brings groans from all of the locals.  It seems that this Battle of Bugs will be never-ending.

You Cannot Eat My House!

  I finally have new siding on the Little Bayou House thanks to Hubby and Son.  They have been renovating the place for quite some time due to an infestation of my enemy, termite.  Yep.  The place was being eaten from inside the walls.  So...the walls came down.  New walls went up.  I am a happy camper because termites are gone!  Now it seems as if other critters want to "try out" the new siding.  For the past few weeks, I have found adult antlions, grasshoppers, spiders and wasps nosing around the siding.  While I adore my siding, I am not sure what the great attraction is for bugs.  This stuff is not wood!  The siding is some stuff called cement siding.  It is supposed to be termite resistant at least....termite proof at best.  I am hoping for the latter.  But these other critters are driving me crazy with their affinity for my house.

  The other morning, I noticed what I thought was a smudge on my new paint job.  The siding seemed to have a blotch of something high enough to be just out of my reach.  A few days later, I noticed that my blotch was moving.  There were little squiggles "worming" their way away from the original smear.  Uh, oh!  I do not need more critters.  I climbed a ladder, took photos and sprayed the teeny-tiny, siding-dwelling critters.  After killing the mass of them (there was clearly hundreds), I decided I had better determine the type of critter.  It appears that my house was the host to a couple of hundred moth caterpillars.  Ok, so I have seen caterpillars on plants but never cement siding.  There cannot be much to eat on the side of a house.

  I feel better after eradicating the critters even though I usually follow a no kill motto.  I suppose that strategy only applies when the critter is not trying to literally eat me out of house and home.  Nope...we are not going that route again.  I have had enough already.

I Hate Termites!

  Most of the time, I get along really well with the critters of the Bayou.  It is almost unheard of for me to wish harm to any one of them....almost.  Almost because I really do wish to eradicate one species from the whole place.  I have no desire to ever see another nor do I ever wish to see the evidence left behind by these critters. I could definitely do without them.

  Termites.  Termites are some of the most vile creatures ever to call the Bayou home. I absolutely loathe them  Why?  Because termites literally eat you out of house and home.  In fact, they EAT the home.  We have been battling termite damage in the Little Bayou House for several years now.  We are making progress but it is slow going.  There is nothing like fully believing that your upstairs could become your downstairs at any given moment.  I have had that fear.  With a lot of hard work and more money than I want to think about, Mark and Son are making great headway against the destruction but, at times, it seems overwhelming.  Just about the time I think we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we find more damage.  At this rate, we will soon have a new house.

  This afternoon, I was moving a few logs out of the new path when I found thousands of termites crawling on the ground.  The critters were not happy with my disturbance.  They started scurrying quickly beneath the ground.  The bright, hot sun would have meant a quick demise for the critters.  Oh, how I wish that would happen!  These are the subterranean termites that normally stay underground and come to the surface to destroy any wood that happens to be nearby.  They are also the ones that will build small earthen tunnels to reach wood.  These tunnels are the key to their moving into homes.  The passageway helps the termites to slip in and take over before anyone notices.  Once they are detected. it is usually too late. The damage has been done and the house is weakened.  Thankfully, (hopefully), we will save the Little Bayou House from this destruction like we have so many other things.  It is tiring...so tiring.  I hate termites.

Useful Information...Or Not...

  In doing major reconstruction on the Little Bayou House, I have learned a multitude of useful things.  Along the way, I have also learned a multitude of useless things.  One balances out the other so all is well.  One of the more useful things is to measure twice and cut once.  Pop used to tell me this all of the time but until I started playing with tools, I never realized just how valuable this information is.  It sure saves a lot of boards!  Miscuts can ruin about as many good planks as the termites do.  One of the useless bits of information is that wasps can get through tiny holes.  Duh!  Everyone should already know this.  It never occurred to me how many critters are housed in the same home in which I live.   Not to creep anybody out here but your home probably has critters, too.  I know, I know....you have a deal with an exterminator but it was one of those fine fellows that told me that inside most walls, critters abound and there is not a lot you can do about it...short of poking holes in between each stud and spraying each month.  Critters just have a way of creepy-crawling in and then making themselves at home....just inches from you!

  When Son pulled off some of the siding in an attempt to repair damage from some of those critters (termites), he found evidence of other critters.  Some tiny...others not so tiny.  Here on the Bayou, there is just about every type critter and they all love to be cozy in their nests.  Son pointed out gecko egg shells (thankfully, they already hatched.  I would have hated to hurt those), spider webs (yay for spiders!  They eat termites!) and wasp nests.  The most prevalent of all the wasp nests were those of the mud daubers.  The long mud nests were everywhere! 

  The bit of useless information that I gleaned from the wasps' nests is that we have different colored mud around here!  Not that having colored mud is important.  I just found it interesting.  When Son handed me a mud dauber's nest, the bottom clearly showed the layers of different mud. Some was garden mud, some bayou mud and then there was clay.  I am not sure where the wasp found red clay but the bottom of the nest showed several layers of gold-colored clay.  Nicely done, Mama Mud Dauber, nicely done.

  On the other side of the nest, the cells could clearly be seen.  Whether the holes in this side were created by the new wasps escaping the confines of their larval home or whether these holes were made by a marauding thief dining on the larvae is not clear.  There are numerous other critters that raid the nests to steal the larvae and the preserved spiders that Mama Mud Dauber so carefully stowed for her babies. 

  What I shall do with the tidbit of information about the clay is wholly uncertain but I have it just in case it is ever needed.  Somewhere on this plot of ground there is a spot of red clay.  What I do with the useful bit about measuring will surely save us a lot at the lumberyard!  Measure twice, cut once and use red clay to make a nest.  Sounds logical.
 

Can The Beauty Knock Out the Beast?

  Since I was a toddler visiting my grandparents, I have had a love for "Ham and Eggs".  No, not the food stuff but the flowering shrub.  Ham and eggs, shrub verbena and yellow sage are all names (depending on the area) for lantana.  Grandmother called it ham and eggs so the name stuck.  She always claimed that the colors reminded her of breakfast.  Lantanas come in a wide array of yellows, whites, pinks, reds and oranges....all on the same plant!  The small flowers form clusters that used to adorn my dolls when I was a tot.  The clusters were the perfect size for a doll to hold and since the blooms were all on one stem, it made it quite easy for a little child to affix the bouquet.    My grandparents' yard was the perfect play place for a little one with a wild imagination.  The visits always thrilled me, were (probably) tolerated by them and gave Mom a break after having so many kids.  (There were five of us to handle!)

  Now, the lantana holds a spot of honor in my yard.  Not only does the shrub grow well and can tolerate all what is thrown at it weatherwise, it roots easily.  Instead of having one, there are dozens of the small shrubs dotted about the place.  Some have come up as volunteers in places where they will have to be eventually moved but I cannot stand the thought of killing any of them.

  The pretty shrub also does double duty as its leaves and stems are touted to repel termites.  If you live on the Gulf Coast, you will fully understand our love for anything that can help move termites on their way.  Since Hurricane Katrina struck so many years ago, termite swarms have grown to be a horrifying beast.  Their voracious appetites have leveled homes and have given the rest of us a run for our money.  The Little Bayou House has seen its share of the critters and has been in a constant state of renovation since the storm.  It seems that the termites have even grown tolerant of the sprays so there is just not a lot of hope.  Lantanas!  Do your job!!  

Fun on the Bayou!!!

  Yes, we are having fun on the Bayou!  It is that time of year when things get festive and we decorate the yard with lights!  We frolic about with cans in hand and have a grand old time!!  What fun!  At least, that is the way my friend, Darlene, was describing the events of the evening.  While talking on her phone, she was telling someone "Guess what my friend does for fun on the Bayou??"  Yep, fun.  So fun.

  After an afternoon of fishing, she and I headed back to the Little Bayou House for a bite to eat and then pulled our rocking chairs over to stare out over the Bay.  It was then that I noticed a bug flit in front of the light.  Uh, oh.  LIGHTS OUT!!! WINDOWS DOWN!!  BUG SPRAY IN HAND!!!  The termite swarms have started their nightly flights.  Ugh!  For the next half hour, a preplanned routine was set in motion.  First, every light in the house was doused.  Next, all windows were tightly shut.  Then, a shop light was toted down the hillside and set on bright.  Finally, cans of bug spray were aimed at any termite that dared show its nasty self inside the house.  I HATE TERMITES!

A shop light can draw the termites far from the house!

  The shop light does a fine trick of drawing the critters away from the house.   Once the bugs hit the hot bulb, most of them die instantly.  Others will fly in a huge circle around the light.  It is a cyclone of termites!  These can easily be exterminated while they are circling.  But in the meantime, if you are not careful, termites begin crawling on you.  They get on your clothes, crawl on your skin and become entangled in your hair.  It is just about the nastiest feeling there is but there is not much we can do other than endure.  Since Hurricane Katrina, the swarms have become worse and worse until now the critters can shut down businesses, end ballgames and cause people to run inside.  The entire Coast sees massive swarms of the critters around any light source so we have all learned "Lights Out!"  Some neighborhoods have gone so far as to have not only their Neighborhood Watch groups but, also, "Termite Watch" groups that speed dial everyone with the bad news.  

  For the next month, most evenings will see us sitting in the dark with a fly swatter in hand.  Its a way of life, here on the Bayou.  Yes, indeed!  We do have fun on the Bayou!

Change the Battle Plan!

  The "War on Termites" still rages at the Little Bayou House as it does at most homes on the Gulf Coast.  The critters invaded the area after Hurricane Katrina piled huge mounds of debris over the land and left them a regular smorgasbord of delights.  The effort to get back to normal took longer than expected and the piles of exposed lumber were an open invitation.  After the termites munched their way through the piles (and multiplied exponentially over the years), it was only natural that they would seek out other food sources.  Those just happened to be houses.  Reputable exterminators were hard to come by for several years after the storm so most folks took to doing it themselves.  Now, no exterminator will touch the places and no insurance covers the damage.  Most folks are just out of luck when it comes to fighting this war.  We have learned through experience not to expect any help.  It ain't happenin'.  So we do it ourselves.

  Last week, I found that termites had invaded the bookshelves that flank the fireplace in the dining room.  These shelves held hundreds of volumes of antique books.  The bugs had even infiltrated the books!  Well, there was nothing to do but clear the shelves and rip them out from the walls.  We did just that....all the way to the ground.  After another round of termite spray (which I think sometimes does not help), we started to rebuild.  Now the job is complete and I am sorting books to refill the new shelves.

  One small oddity popped up during this whole ordeal.  I found the termites quite by accident.  In an effort to help my brother, I needed a certain book on the shelf.  Knowing the general proximity of the book, I reached up and pulled six small volumes from the shelf.  Ugh!  What a disgusting thing to find termites in your books!  These six infested books were near the center of the shelf.  While ripping out the shelves, Son determined that the termites had started near the fireplace, tunneled up the wall and then made their way to the books.  The unusual thing was that the first four books against the affected wall were not harmed.  Not one termite chewed the pages.  The four books were skipped then the termites found and started munching the next few volumes.  The first four books in question?  Four bibles.  Now go figure!  That was a bit unusual!  What made it comical was when I told my oldest son of the incident, he laughed a bit and told me to tell his brother who was rebuilding the shelves to "throw out the termite spray. He needs to start using Holy Water!"  Maybe he has a point.  Holy Water and lots of prayers!  Perhaps that is what is needed to fight these little demons!