Die, critters, die!

In addition to lots of heat, opportunities to do stuff outside and a great deal of sweating, summer out here also brings with it the onset of bugs, which was made all too clear to me earlier this week. Yes, once again it would appear that I have a cockroach infestation somewhere in the apartment, but the good news is that I managed to spot one of the little buggers and neutralize it with the aid of some handy spray. Bloody big it was too, though as is always the way with these things, the above picture hardly does it justice.

I remember trying all sorts of things last year (cardboard traps filled with bait and adhesive glue which didn’t work, chasing them under cupboards while attempting to hit them with shoes), but this stuff really seems to do the job. Only slight downside is that rather than producing instantaneous death, a steady blast will cause the offending ‘roach to frantically run around in circles, flip over onto its back and wave its legs pathetically in the air before expiring slowly and painfully five minutes later, which can’t be good for one’s karma. Anyway, one down, probably another dozen to go. Am posting a pic of said spray for the benefit of any other JETs who may be reading – Arichol I think it’s called. I suggest tactically positioning several cans of the stuff around the home so that you’re ready to let rip when the beastly parasites show themselves.

A slightly more positive bug experience was had on Monday evening however, with Gemma kindly driving Sean, Sarah and I into the mountains so as to witness the fireflies found in Tomobuchi village. Upon leaving the car, a very pleasant hour so’s wandering was had down the paths running parallel to a number of rice fields, directly above which loomed the heavily wooded mountain slopes. Cheesy though it may sound, the sight of thousands of pulsing green fireflies lighting up the trees and dancing above the paddies to the accompanying sound of crickets, cicadas and frogs was pretty amazing.

It wasn’t quite as busy as I’d imagined either, though there were numerous families there, most of whom had had the foresight to bring torches along with them to navigate the extremely dark pathways. Indeed, so lacking was light generally that any attempts at trying to capture anything on camera were utterly pointless – though the fact that I saw it at all is more than enough for me.

Funny isn’t it, we’re happy to wax lyrical about insects which look pretty, stay outside and illuminate forests for our delight and entertainment, yet ruthlessly exterminate those which are brown, ugly and scuttle around our homes. The combination of natural selection and human prejudice can be so cruel…