Don't bother with the plug in one's, they don't really do anything. Get a large (and I mean large) can of mossie spray from the supermarket, costs a couple of euros (and even if you can't speak Spanish trust me, when you find the can, you'll know you've got the the right stuff) and spray the rooms each night, making sure you spray under the beds, as this is where they rest. If you only spray above the beds, they can escape the effect and get you later.
Well, apart from a couple of bites when we first arrived (and before we had visited the pet shop) we have remained bite free due to my husbands incredible performance with the can of mossie spray. I did discover that they also like to hide in the bristles of brushes left outside and also in the folds of the golf bags, so now anything left out overnight is shaken and sprayed where necessary.
Apart from 6 mossie bites I picked up walking the dogs through the fields last night having been stupid enough to forget to use the mossie spray on me before I went out (and no, it's not the same can!) we have remained relatively untouched.
HOWEVER, mossies are not the only thing here that we are getting used to. There are some very large black flying beetles - here's one at rest and it is about 3-4cms long.
Now, when this thing gets airborne it ambles along quite slowly and bumps into you, bounces off you and goes on it's way. As far as I know it doesn't bite but it can give you a bit of a fright especially if it bumps into your face. If I find them in the house I have to put a glass over them and wait for Neil to deal with them.
We have been inundated with blue bottles and when you go inland, they are even worse. When I was spending half my time in Pulpi, I almost had to learn to talk through clenched teeth to avoid them going into my mouth, they we so much worse inland. I did wonder about taking up a part time job as a trainee ventriloquist. I am told by the locals that there is an 8 week period of flies and that we are almost at an end - I do hope so.
I have seen remarkably few spiders (thankfully) but we do have some that jump - quite literally , like frogs. That can be quite alarming. We also have daddy long legs with the longest legs I have ever seen, one last night seemed to have legs at least 10inches long, and that's each leg - that's a lot of spider - but it was outside, and we have a deal, if they stay outside, I'll leave them alone so they can catch all these stupid flies.
We have quite a lot of moths but we also have owls (that make the most peculiar noise at night) and bats, so I think they more or less sort themselves out.
One of our golfing buddies told me that a scorpion had got into his dogs bed, fortunately the dog wasn't attacked by it - now that worries me a little, We have signs on our golf course warning us of snakes - but no one has ever seen one, and of course there are the sandflies that are a major worry for the dogs, so they have got the special collars on to protect them, as sandflies can be fatal. The collars (they are thin and white) aren't cheap but they also protect against fleas, ticks etc and last about 4 months for sandflies.
And finally, the woodlice. We have lots and they are easily twice the size of any back in England BUT they have a Kamikaze life style in that they come out at night but never seem to get back home(wherever that is) before the sun gets up in the morning and bakes them dry, so every morning as I sweep the path (and that's another story) I always have a dozen or so baked dry woodlice to sweep up.
So, if you aren't keen on creepy crawlies, better not walk around without your shoes on or who knows what you may stand on!
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