Pied Pipers of Pests

One of the downsides of living in the desert is the number of interesting creatures that make themselves a part of your daily life.  It's like nature is saying, "It's the desert. You don't belong here, and we're just going to invade your living space".

I wouldn't have considered myself particularly afraid of mice, but I have discovered how much I incredibly dislike them living in my house or seeing them scamper across the floor.  I scream every time.  Hope, my roommate, hates mice.  HATES mice.  So when we discovered them, we went on a mouse killing spree.  At first, she tried to buy those nice traps that I guess just lock the mouse inside so you don't have to deal with the messiness of getting rid of their body.  Well, those didn't work.  If you ever have to deal with mice in your house, just go for the real thing right away... good old fashioned snap traps. We caught two in right in a row with that deadly combination of peanut butter and swift precision.  However, getting rid of their dead bodies from those traps is pretty much the worst thing ever. Just spend the extra $1.50 to get a new set. 

There are any number of large bugs crawling around these parts, so I've gotten pretty used to that.  Beetles, cockroaches, and crickets are everywhere.  One night I had the misfortune of sharing my room with a cricket, and it's chirping kept me awake for at least a half hour before I finally determined to catch/kill it.  Turns out that's pretty difficult, and I lost another half hour of sleep dancing around my room trying to uncover and outsmart this cricket.  I finally trapped it under a glass and left it there to slowly die.  Is Utah making me more morbid?  Possibly.  It's the raw, primal wild west.  (;

What even is that?!? It's like a butterfly mated with a bumblebee.  You never know what you'll find hiking in the desert.

Our office at the community center seems to attract an inordinate number of flies.  My whole body tingles when a fly buzzes in my ear, but apparently some people don't mind them.  Like Justin.  He'll just sit there and let them crawl all over him,  (I think it's relevant to mention here that Justin's dream job is a monk).  So when Hope and I take turns going on killing rampages (I'm not even over-dramatizing that), the flies seem to know that he's a safe zone. 

Just a typical day in the office

They're not pests per se, but I couldn't go without mentioning the Green River pack of dogs- or several packs, really- that run around disturbing slumber and sanity with their barking and antics.  Some are strays, some have owners, it really doesn't matter.  Most of them are evil.  They're all small dogs too, which makes it worse.  One evening a group of 6 or so chased me an entire block on my bike, yapping at my tire and making a whole lot of racket.  It was annoying of course, but the worst part was wondering if they would ever actually leave me or whether I would have to resort to more extreme measures.

This picture represents Green River in a lot of ways.  But just look at all those dogs!

And even though it's the desert, living by a river means there are the ever-present mosquitoes which definitely disrupt my evening bike rides.

On the positive side, I guess you would just call these run-ins with pests character building experiences.  And lest I'm making it sound like this isn't a place you would ever want to come, it's still worth it.  (: