If someone had told me ten years ago, all of the things I would be doing after leaving a nearly twenty year career, I wouldn't have believed them. For example, I never dreamed I would have a horse in my life. I always wanted a horse, it just never worked out. That was until my friends rescued eleven of them and one in particular stole my heart (and bank account!)
If someone had told me I would be living with one cat, let alone six of them, I would have said they were out of their mind. And here I am with a lizard of all things. And Bullmastiffs with the combined weight of 330 pounds! I wouldn't trade any of it.
(I'm sorry, but I have to say this - I am sitting at my computer in the living room, in front of the window. I can see across the street. My neighbor is walking around inspecting his property, wearing a huge straw hat. He looks like a beekeeper or Driving Miss Daisy! This is the same guy who had most of the branches pruned from a beautiful live oak and now it looks like a giant cosmic hand stuck a twig in the ground. You need binoculars to find any leaves.)
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| Now this dude looks cool in a straw hat! |
Where was I? Oh, yea, my life. Most of it is fun. I'm not keen on cleaning up the dog poop from the yard. Or Copper's poo which smells like hell left a big fart. Then there are the hairballs. At least they don't smell bad. They are a little off-putting when you step on one in the dark. But today I did a task I never anticipated in my wildest dreams. I cleaned out the nasty, stinky cricket keeper - with an abundance of crickets still in it.
It was tricky, I'll have you know. First, I had to find something to put the little buggers in. Then I had to find something to cover that. Then I had to figure out how to relocate the things while I cleaned the cage.
As luck would have it, I found a bin and a cutting board I was no longer using. For some reason, crickets are sold with pieces of egg carton in with them. I guess the egg cartons do something, I just don't know what.* Anyway, many crickets were hanging on the egg cartons, so I just picked them up and plopped them in the bin. (Are you still with me or did I lose you?)
The crickets who weren't attached to a piece of egg carton were unceremoniously dumped into the bin. I was surprised to find that most of the gunk stuck to the bottom of the cage. That made it much easier to clean. I only had one escapee, which I easily caught with the tweezers.
(I wonder why that guy's wife doesn't tell him he looks like an idiot! Maybe she's mad at him...)
I was so proud of myself when I was able to get the crickets back into a nice, clean keeper. On a daily basis I am reminded how very different my life is now. I went from caring for humans in need to scrubbing bug guts and poop out of a plastic bin. I'll let you in on a little secret - I would rather scoop horse, dog, cat, rabbit, lizard and cricket poop any day than go back to my old life for one moment. Any. day. Can I get an AMEN!
*Well, now I feel bad. I Googled Why do crickets need egg cartons? and this is what I learned:
Crickets are actually solitary creatures. The egg cartons provide them with a bit of privacy.
Crickets like to hide and the compartments of the egg cartons provide them with hiding places.
Crickets need fiber and the cardboard in egg cartons is a safe form of fiber for them.
They also lay their eggs in the cardboard.
Apparently, I did not crack the code on the ease of moving them, since they pretty much stay on the egg cartons. It is a well known fact.
I now feel awful. These little creatures that prefer privacy are being forced to live in a plastic box with dozens of others because I don't want to drive to the pet store every other day. I have been trying to detach myself from feeling bad for the poor things and now I really feel terrible. Copper - you are going to be a vegan beardie. Can you handle that?
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