Wasp
Somehow, a wasp got into my bathroom. My only guess is that the bathroom vent provided it access; the other possibilities are too horrifying to consider. I spotted it Saturday, but had no time to deal with it - so I just shut it in the bathroom and left. When I got back on Sunday, it was still there - hanging out on the light fixture, daring me to swat at it and gamble on breaking something.
Well, I can't pass up a dare like that, so I was eventually able to get a good angle on it - whacked it with the swatter and stunned it. It landed in the sink, so I ran some water, pushed it past the stopper, and waited for it to drown. No such luck - it clung tenaciously just under the stopper.
So I closed the stopper, filled up the sink, and then opened the stopper - reasoning that that much water should surely push it down past the u-bend. And I didn't see it for a while after that, but..
Yesterday, I spotted a wasp in my bathroom. Now, I'm not racist, but all wasps look alike. I wondered if it was the same wasp, rescued from his watery grave by a little wasp re-breather on his utility belt, or what. Again, the alternative is too horrible to consider - that there will be more of these things getting in my house.
So I resolved that there could be no more ambiguity - the wasp must die, and I must see the corpse. I missed my first swat, and it ducked behind the hanging mirror. Which meant I had to take down the hanging mirror - a two handed job - and then avoid getting stung or allowing the wasp into the rest of the house before I could reclaim the swatter. Fortunately, I think the wasp was tired from my continued attempts on his life - I got the mirror down and struck.
And he fell onto the counter, stunned. So I struck a few more times - no visible damage. I began to think my Batman metaphor was a little hasty - this was clearly a wasp that was the last survivor of an alien world, rocketed to ours by his tiny wasp parents. Fortunately, I did have a giant wad of paper towel that I'd prepared and a large blunt object to mash on it. AKA : Wasp Kryptonite.
His body broken and crushed at last, I gathered it in the paper towel - which I then sealed in a ziploc bag just to be sure. And now, I wait and watch to see if another will appear..
Well, I can't pass up a dare like that, so I was eventually able to get a good angle on it - whacked it with the swatter and stunned it. It landed in the sink, so I ran some water, pushed it past the stopper, and waited for it to drown. No such luck - it clung tenaciously just under the stopper.
So I closed the stopper, filled up the sink, and then opened the stopper - reasoning that that much water should surely push it down past the u-bend. And I didn't see it for a while after that, but..
Yesterday, I spotted a wasp in my bathroom. Now, I'm not racist, but all wasps look alike. I wondered if it was the same wasp, rescued from his watery grave by a little wasp re-breather on his utility belt, or what. Again, the alternative is too horrible to consider - that there will be more of these things getting in my house.
So I resolved that there could be no more ambiguity - the wasp must die, and I must see the corpse. I missed my first swat, and it ducked behind the hanging mirror. Which meant I had to take down the hanging mirror - a two handed job - and then avoid getting stung or allowing the wasp into the rest of the house before I could reclaim the swatter. Fortunately, I think the wasp was tired from my continued attempts on his life - I got the mirror down and struck.
And he fell onto the counter, stunned. So I struck a few more times - no visible damage. I began to think my Batman metaphor was a little hasty - this was clearly a wasp that was the last survivor of an alien world, rocketed to ours by his tiny wasp parents. Fortunately, I did have a giant wad of paper towel that I'd prepared and a large blunt object to mash on it. AKA : Wasp Kryptonite.
His body broken and crushed at last, I gathered it in the paper towel - which I then sealed in a ziploc bag just to be sure. And now, I wait and watch to see if another will appear..