Disappointment

Sometimes Mom should just stay out of the way.

The scorpions are active at the moment. We've had a lot of problems with scorpions since we moved to our present location and I've learned not to patter about the house barefoot. I won't see one for months and then all of a sudden I will see one every day for a week or so. I killed one on Tuesday when I put the trash out at the curb. (They love to rest in the cool shade the trash bin provides. Unfortunately for them, when I move the can and see them, it is a simple matter to dispatch them to the great scorpion heaven by rolling over them with the trash bin wheel.) Once I see one, I know I will be seeing more for awhile.

This morning I had let the dogs out for a quick run in the neighbor's yard (hey, he has grass and I don't). When we came in, I saw a big, fat scorpion scoot across the threshhold and into the house. My first thought was to get the dogs safely past him without them stopping to sniff the newcomer. My second problem this morning was that both of the heathen cats spotted his arrival and were quick to stick their two noses into the fray.

I was picking up dogs and tossing them over the thing, yelling at the cats to "leave it alone, leave it alone" and reaching for the heavy doorstop (my second favorite tool of scorpion destruction). I had him cornered against the kitchen cabinet. I thought. As I was using the doorstop to push him back into a good squashing zone, he suddenly feinted and slipped into the crack between the cabinet and the wall. I sprayed bug poison into the crack, not because I thought it would do any harm to the blasted thing, but I thought it might make him mad enough to come back out and fight. No sign of him was to be had.

So I have a scorpion on the loose in the house. What fun.

Now, in the background I had the heathen cats looking at me with utter disgust. It was not difficult to figure out the problem. They actually enjoy catching and destroying scorpions. I don't know how they manage to do so without falling victim to being stung, but I've seen some pretty pitiful dead specimans lying around after they have their fun.

If I had just let them alone, I wouldn't have a scorpion on the loose.

Mom should just stay out of the way and let the experts handle things.

LSW