At least it wasn't rats?

POSSUMS*.

LOTS OF THEM.

I was all prepared to write this long entry about our alley, courtyard, porch and garden being under attack, but I think this video says just about everything.

No one bats an eye. Brad and Jeremiah are experts by this point. "Oh look, a giant, hissing, Dorito-stealing animal in the house! No bigs." This was the third visit this week. It's a topic of daily discussion, and almost a matter of comedy.

We'll see how funny it is when I make the next one into a hat.

*Get back, Animal Planet dorks! What we're dealing with here is the Virgina Opossum. But we've just been calling them possums. And yes, it is totally unsafe to be taking care of it ourselves. I'm guessing the best thing to do in this situation is to call Animal Control, but did you see that little guy's face? They would have killed him!

Bug-killing trials, day one.

We're entering hour 37 of air conditioned bliss and have had no problems - except one.

We're not historically "air conditioning people," meaning that we agree that even in stifling heat, fans and open windows are just fine. But there are no screens in the windows, and we're now paying the price in the form of an exceptionally aggressive swarm of fruit flies.

We made two traps tonight to combat the little beasts and will report back on which one works the best.

Option one: Standard soda bottle wasp trap.

Pretty simple stuff. The bottom pool of death contains water and dish soap. At the last moment, we decided to throw in a couple teaspoons of sugar for added intrigue. The nozzle of the bottle was dipped in apple butter. Soda bottle traps are traditionally reserved for larger bugs (such as the Buick-sized flies cruising the perimeter of the living room), so we may end up putting this guy outside for bees and mosquitoes.

Option # 2: Fruit fly kryptonite.

As it turns out, fruit flies are partial to red wine. Aside from getting wasted, this smaller trap isn't as fun for the insects (read: no slip 'n' slide, no tasty apple butter), but is supposed to be a guaranteed death trap. And in my humble opinion, drowning in a silver chalice of Malbec is the classiest death this side of Isadora Duncan.

We'll see how it goes.