Bugs and Critters Michael

The most pesky bug in Ghana (as far as I’m concerned) is the fly.  They aren’t dangerous as in the Tsetse fly which brings deadly diseases, but they’re just a pain in the rear.  They are nearly everywhere (at least wherever humans have ever eaten at one time), and they just pester you with flying close to you, especially around your head.  I’ve never seen a fly swatter in the country, so I’m reduced to clapping just above them once they’ve landed in an attempt to kill them.  It’s not that there’s a huge number of them, but they seem to have a territorial sense – as soon as a walk near their “territory,” I get buzzed repeatedly until I leave their area. 

However, the most prevalent bug in Ghana is the ant – they are everywhere in the soil, and beyond.  Again, these are small ants, almost so small you can barely see them.  They don’t bite (at least not the ones I’ve encountered), but they will find any piece of food you’ve left behind.  You’ll see these trails of ants from the soil to the source of the food along the sides of building walls and elsewhere.  And yes, they grow ant hills.  You’ll see some soil pushed up out from the rest of the soil, and it’ll looked “disturbed” or loose.  Sometime later, there’ll be a small mound beginning that just gets larger and larger.  As it grows in size, it becomes hardened, such that it’s hard to push it over – a very hard kick with the foot will do it only a piece at a time.  Of course, when you do this, the ants are uncovered with some anger, so you need to get out of there. 

Besides the ants in the ground are the termites.  These and the ants are the reason no one builds with wood in Ghana.  By that I mean all building is with concrete, concrete block, masonry, etc., and that includes floors, walls, ceilings, etc.  This makes plumbing and electrical wiring difficult work.  Only the roof rafters are made from wood and then the favorite roof covering is some kind of sheet metal.  These termites make mounds taller than myself and they are extremely hard to knock over.  They’ll start out as a little mud pie (1/2 inch in diameter) on the ground, and then they’ll just get larger and larger.  Unlike ants they can’t tolerate the sunlight at all.

One of the most feared bugs is the dreaded mosquito since it probably brings Malaria with it.  So far we’ve encountered just a handful of mosquitos (only one ever in our bedroom).  They are not the large mosquitos of Alaska’s first of the season variety, but the small, very clever in avoiding being killed variety.  In fact, I haven’t heard them yet.  So far, the anti-malaria drugs along with almost no encounter with them has resulted in no sickness amongst us, but the fear is always out there, especially near dawn and dusk when mosquitos are most prevalent.

After mosquitos are the little bugs that just happen to bug you (okay, pun intended).  I don’t know if you call them gnats or no-see-ems, but either way, they’re not deadly, just a touch pesky. 

Our next encounter with animals is the mouse; again, if you leave food out, they will find it.  There are no door thresholds in Ghana, so they can get in and out without your permission.  Your only remedy is cleanliness.  I’m not so worried about being bitten by them (although any animal bite is potential deadly because of possible rabies), but they are a vector for many diseases, mostly through their droppings (or in the case of plague, fleas feeding on them).

Then there’s the little lizards that we like; they get in just like the mice, only now, they eat bugs.  YES!  They really are fun to watch as they run away from you as you’re walking down the way.  I’ve kept my distance from them, and only hope they’re eating bugs.  It is a bit unnerving for them to be found unexpectedly in the house though.

Of course there’s the ever-present (that would be ubiquitous) chicken and goats/sheep.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many chickens in so many different places.  I can understand some chickens alongside the road out here in the country, but chickens in the city??  And yes, they are crossing the road for all kinds of reason that you can put forward.  Goats are nearly as numerous, and then sheep less so, but still, the road is constantly lined with various of these animals (I probably wouldn’t make it as a chicken farmer here since there is a large supply of brown eggs – I don’t think it’s a racial thing, but I’ve seen very few white eggs, which in this climate I would think would do great since the Leghorn is a smaller chicken that does better in hotter climates like here).

Yes, there are the cows every once in a while, especially when the Mali people drive them from one area to another.  They consider all of the earth as theirs, so they feed anywhere along the way which has presented its problems to our outer fields of vegetables.

While I haven’t seen a snake here, the BYU I interns told of the remains (head, guts and skin) of a green mamba killed out in the vegetable field by one of the farm hands.  Emmanuel also tells that if we didn’t have the concrete fence enclosing the property, cobra and other snakes would be frequent visitors – I have a new love for the fence.  This past evening at dinner, the BYU I interns showed a picture of snake killed just that day about 20 yards from one of our buildings.  The farmers had stabbed the snake, and felt a large object in its stomach; upon closer inspection, found the large object was a frog (digestions had only just begun).  When asked what kind of a snake it was, the reply was “Good, to chop.”  Snakes come in two varieties to the farmers – good to chop, and not good to chop.  I’m not sure what puts a snake on which list.  Then there was the ~7 foot python killed just the other day (It’s a good to chop snake that the farmers ate).

Besides the chickens and roosters, there are a ton of wild birds, all of the small variety, and every once in a while, you’ll see a couple of vultures hanging out.  It makes for quite a symphony in the morning.  However, their early morning chorus is usually outdone by the crickets’ songs (which goes from sundown to sunup) and the occasional frog croaking that can reach deep into your eardrums, especially when it’s in stereo.  Fortunately, the frogs croak only after copious rain, and in the last week or so, we’ve left the rainy season (good for sleeping at night, not so good for watering the plants).  One of the other creatures you no longer see much off is the snail – the French would be in heaven here (snails and frogs legs).

One of the more odd creatures is the glow-in-the-dark snails/bugs.  As you’re walking along the path between buildings, if you glance in the grass, you’ll see little spots of light that will illuminate for a second and then go dark; it’s really a cool sight.  It makes you realize how many different creatures there are in the grass that you otherwise would have no idea they were there (thus the reason for always wearing shoes).

Sam is our source for finding interesting creatures.  One of the more charming ones is the Praying Mantis; while I’ve seen them in the states, these things here are BIG, and my friend as they eat other bugs.  Another interesting one is the millipede.  Yes, they’re in the states, but these things here grow to about 6 inches in length and about a half an inch in diameter – huge.  When they are that size, they move much slower and are normally only found in the soil.  Not to be outdone by Sam is Mariah who tells quite a story of finding a scorpion in our shower stall; her story goes like this: tried to crush the scorpion with a bucket (buckets were used to flush the toilet until the plumber fixed it), then picked up the scorpion with loads of tissue paper, and threw it into the toilet, only to find it not dead and struggling to get out of the toilet, when all of a sudden, Sam inadvertently turns off the bathroom light for a few seconds.  The story ends with plenty of water being poured into the toilet flushing the critter away.