Timothy Birdnow

Last night I was watching television in my easy chair and examining a suspicious-looking red blotch on my arm. It just appeared in the last day or so. It's not sore or uncomfortable, just there.

At any rate I looked above the television and there was some sort of big bug on the wall, seemingly looking at me. I got up with plans to bash it with my shoe but it FLEW to the floor (like a glider; it had some sort of wings but didn't flap them) and then shot away into the hallway. It did not run like a waterbug or whatnot; more like a mouse. And it was lightning fast.

Did I have some sort of mutant bug? A cockamouse, half bug and half mouse?

I went after it and found in on the floor in the hallway. It immediately bolted away again, but  made the mistake of going up on the wall of the stairway. I whacked it with the shoe again, and it fell onto the carpeting of the stairs, then tried to scurry away on the floor where I stepped on it. It was STILL moving despite taking my full weight! I Finally got the little love child by repeatedly beating it with the shoe, then picked it up and squashed it inside of a paper towel. It was the toughest damned insect I ever encountered.

I looked at it; it had a big round body but a consriction between the body and cone shaped head. It was black, and had a pincher-like head.

I started wondering....

There is an invasive species called the Kissing Bug (also called the cone-nose bug or sometimes vampirebug, which describes this critter) which has recently been found here in Missouri, having come up from Mexico. These are the stuff of nightmares; They live in houses, and feed on the blood of humans and animals. They watch their prey from a higher vantage point, watch until the person falls asleep (which they determine by watching their eyes until they see motion underneath the lids) They like the mouth and eyes since those are tender spots, easily accessed, but they will bite anywhere.) Their bites are painless but leave red patches. They have glider wings and can fly short distances (the adults anyway). Oh, and they are very dangerous as they can cause a disease called Chagas, which leads to heart failure. (I already have heart failure; I don't need any more.) One person in Missouri has contracted Chagas from the kissing bug.

Was this a kissing bug? I most earnestly hope not. But if it is I hope and pray it was the only one in the house.

Anybody know more about these little monsters? I tried to look up stuff and found plenty but couldn't get much to open (thanks to the age of my system).

Photos of the kissing bug on Google sure looked like this beast, but I am happily ignorant of entymology, and that was by design. I prefer not to think about bugs.

I see no way to prevent them from coming in the house; I have a problem with mice as it is. Can't find their access point. If THEY can get in kissing bugs sure can.

Anyway if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears (which will probably be bitten by one of these filthy little SOB's some day soon if that is indeed what it was.

On that cheery note I give you Louie Armstrong:

Just kiss me once and kiss me twice, then kiss me once again. It's been a long, long time.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 07:16 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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