Costa Rican Critters
…not the celeb sloths, howler monkeys and toucans; read a guidebook for those.
When I first moved to Costa Rica, I expected to encounter many threatening bugs and critters. I was concerned about mosquitoes and Dengue fever. I was freaked out about snakes—especially the dreaded terciopelo (fer-de-lance). Spiders. Things that go bump in the night. Cane toads, the venom of which almost killed one of my dogs.
Aside from the cane toad incident with my goldendoodle, none of these magnificent creatures have troubled me. During all my years here I’ve seen only one scorpion, a baby, whisked off my deck with a broom. The altitude of 4000 to 5000 feet, and year-round temperatures from the upper 50’s to mid 70’s are factors. There are few mosquitoes. Many of the creepy crawlies prefer a warmer, moist climate—more junglelike. We have an abundance of no-see-ums to compensate, but as far as I know no one has died from no-see-ums.
Both the terciopelo and cane toads prefer lower habitats yet have been sighted in my community. Damn. My gardener once killed a false terciopelo thinking it was the real McCoy, which was regrettable. My experience is that Ticos tend to kill snakes first and ask questions later.
In terms of daily annoyance, though, there are critters which rate more highly than the lethal lifeforms.
I’ve done an informal survey of my expat friends, and they agree that the most annoying critter is:
Drum roll…………ants!
We all have tales of stepping into an ant hill, perhaps while focusing on a photo op or a task, and looking down to witness our ankles covered. The bites itch forever. Some leave little blisters that break and then scab over.
Then there are chiggers. Impossible to see with the naked eye, but pure hell for at least a month. The first time I got them was due to ignorance. Which by the way seems to be the gateway to most of my troubles. I went for a horseback ride and the guides strongly advised long pants. I didn’t have them; I was wearing ¾ length leggings. I shrugged and said yeah what’s wrong with these? They politely refrained from telling me that I might get chiggers, allowing me the sovereign choice to be chigger bait in the tall grass. Had I known that all one need do is shower immediately after exposure to prevent the slow-crawling microscopic critters from advancing up my legs to lodge in my tender bits and cause misery—the most intense itching I’ve ever experienced—I would have done so. But I skipped the shower after the river rafting which followed the horseback ride. Since then, I’ve armed myself with permethrin, but the shower seems to be the real key. Just wash the little buggers off before they lodge and be sure to launder those pants.
My second favorite annoyance critter is the humble cucaracha, which seems as large as a VW bus.
It’s impossible to have none. No matter how clean your home. Interestingly, they don’t seem to gather where there’s food. Except maybe ripe bananas on your counter at night. I tend to see them where there’s cardboard. They love crawling into boxes and small spaces. The telltale sign is their charming little poops.
The Tica who cleans my home is a wonder. I knew nothing about true clean and cleaning until I met her. She cleans EVERYTHING. My floor is spotless. Once every 6 months we go through all my drawers to clean and for mold prevention. She cleans windows and the outside of my house. She’s a miracle.
Yet she isn’t at all concerned about cockroaches. They are simply a fact of life. Oh those, she yawns. It might help to get a plastic bin to put whatever it is that the cockroach has pooped on, to avoid access, but getting rid of them is simply not possible.
One of my first lessons in cucaracha-ology was when I broke out my stovetop expresso maker. I was psyched to try it with the yummy Costa Rican coffee.
I thrummed my fingers while waiting for the delicious brew to finish its percolation. Ready, set, pour! Out pops a dead cucaracha with my brew. The bugger had hunkered into the top of my expresso maker. I hadn’t looked when I put it on the stove. Death by expresso.
The “Most Gross” award goes to my water pic. I’d taken the tank off in order to pack for travel. There was a dead, smashed cucaracha in the little space which joins the water tank to the hose. No shit. I was water flossing with decomposing cucaracha tea for who knows how long. With no discernable consequences, I live to tell the tale.
My entomologist friend could and would correct my ignorance about all the critters I’ve mentioned, but I stand by my layperson’s drama.