Rats v. Iguanas

During my last stay in Nayarit, I had several unwanted visitors in my home.

Everyday I would sweep the house. As many of you already know, when you live in the country the floor gets full of dirt and dust very quickly.  About every other day I would find what looked to me like droppings, but I could not figure out what animal the droppings were from.

I ended up picking one up to start analyzing it and honestly it just looked like a doo doo about half an inch in size.  So I mosied on over to my mother-in-law's which is a jump and a skip away to see if she could tell me what it was.

"Es de Rana" was here response.  What? De Rana?

She said it was frog poop.  Hmm until now I never thought frogs had excrement that big.  I thought it was from a rat.  I always complain to B that the doors are way too high and that little critters can easily get under the door but he swears that once we put the tile down in the house the gap will get significantly smaller.  Until then however, I have big gaps under my doors.

It's rainy season in Nayarit and when it rains it pours.  It always seems so dramatic when it rains because it comes down so hard, not to mention the lightening and thunder sounds like it hits right beside you.  I think the rain is what brings the animals out of their homes. 

This is not the case for the family dog Muñeca.  She is terrified of any big noises and scampers into the house to hide under a bed.  She doesn't like to be anywhere else other than under a bed.  The only thing is she is not allowed in the house and so we always have to take her outside.  There are several other rooms she can go into but I think she just likes that the bed is right on top of her head so it feels safer.

She is a very good girl in that she can be inside the house for a whole night and morning and she will not use the bathroom.  We often don't know when Muñeca is under the bed because she is so quiet so she ends up spending the night with us.  One time she scared the heck out of me as I woke up to the bed moving up and down with nobody in the room other than me.  I finally got the guts to look under the bed, it was Muñeca wagging her tail like crazy which was making the bed move like crazy.

One day not long after a storm hit, I saw my sister-in-law with a broom looking on at our dog Muñeca.  I walked over to see what was going on only to see she had a present.  An iguana.  Apparently La Muñeca was in the house and my neice told her mom that she had gotten inside but that it was ok because she was trying to get an iguana.  Funny as it may seem my in-laws are scared of the things and La Muñeca knows this, so she went in the house to take care of the situation.

Muñeca was so proud of her kill that she woulnd't let me take it from her right away.  Finally I was able to get the iguana to dispose of it.  My in-laws looked at me in horror as I picked it up by the tail.  It's funny how iguanas, snakes, mice and frogs don't bother me much but put a cockaroach in front of me and I am gone. 

So what's the conclusion to this story.  I will take iguanas over mice anyday, even though they both stink.  Why?  Because I know La Muñeca will take 'em out should one just happen to get in the house!