You've been warned! Don't proceed if you can't handle the unpleasantries of life (and death).
I got a text from The Pony on Monday at 3:40 a.m. I wasn't too concerned to hear it come in, because The Pony knows I stay up most of the night, and if he wakes up, he'll sometimes respond to an earlier message. What I read when I picked up my phone chilled me to the bone.
"Well. I'm guessing Dad still didn't listen to me about the attic. And the dead squirrel."
"I keep telling him every morning."
"Because there are maggots in my bathtub and I do not see any way that would have happened unless they fell through the fan/ceiling corner where there's suddenly a ton of dust. It's that, or they came up the drain."
"YIKES! I will let him know as soon as he gets up."
"Everything was fine the last time I ran a bath. There are some in my toilet, too. So unless it's all from the pipes, the only way I can imagine is they came from overhead."
"None I can see, but looking around now. Two on my towel hanging dry against the wall, but none in my sink or shower. The could have conceivably gotten in the toilet from the wall or by dropping through the ceiling vent."
"Nothing in the other rooms where it hadn't smelled like death. Or living room or kitchen. Not even around the trash. So it's either something in the tub's pipes/drain, or from the overhead squirrel corpse. Like I told him was there!"
"Is it okay if Dad comes in while you're at work?"
"I'd rather he didn't. Unless even more fall down, there won't be anything to see since I'm cleaning it and exterminating them right now."
"More might fall after you clean."
"My skin is crawling."
"Mine tooooo!"
"Every time my skinned knee itches while I'm doing this I expect to see one working toward the healing injuries!"
"Dad has been putting money ahead of family. When I ask for something I get a lecture about how he's doing EVERYTHING."
"I've literally asked him three times to bring a ladder or tell me where one tall enough is and I'd just do it."
"He'll be out here in about 90 minutes."
"Don't tell him. Just hand him the phone when you call, and I'll do it, that way he can't yell at you."
"I want to show him the pictures first. Or he'll say you must be confused because that's not possible. You know how he denies."
"Yeah. I'm standing here filling the tub to try and flush away any that went in the jets or upper drain, and catching the ones crawling in and out. Got candles burning so the rot smell is covered."
"Dang it! This could have been prevented!"
"When did I first say it smelled like rot? A week ago? Because I remember him saying he would do it Tuesday or Thursday unless it was raining. I feel them popping even through the toilet paper I'm using to pick them up as they crawl out of hiding spots."
"It was last Sunday. Because you said you hadn't heard the squirrel moving since Friday."
"So for over a week."
"Yeah."
"You can show him the pictures after. Just let me talk to him first. I'm literally twitching from this. Just threw up a little from pulling one out of the top drain of the tub and popping it."
"Ick!"
When Hick got up, I called The Pony and handed over the phone. Hick DID sound apologetic. Said he hoped the squirrel wasn't down in the wall, or he wouldn't be able to get it without tearing out the wall. He planned to take Old Buddy over there before they got to their intended project of cleaning out the mobile home on the QuickFlip property.
The Pony was getting ready to go to work early. Said it was the one Monday he was looking forward to work, to get out of the smell and the maggot-popping. At 6:52 he sent me another text.
"They're up on the roof now."
By 7:04, there was a discovery.
"Old Buddy found it. Fun to hear Dad ask, 'What do you need?' and for Old Buddy to say, 'Pitchfork.'"
"I'm glad I reminded Dad to bring along some trash bags!"
Anyhoo... The Pony's ordeal seems to be over. When he got home Monday night, he said
"There were a few more very tiny maggots in the tub. They've been removed."
"Hopefully they will stop dropping now!"
When he left here Monday morning, Hick said he had something to spray and kill the maggots. So I'm hoping the removed squirrel was the only dead thing in The Pony's attic.
I guess that squirrel really came back to bite Hick in the rumpus. Well. Technically, Old Buddy's rumpus, since he had to do the pitchforking.
Oof da! What a story. Poor Pony. I really hope he has no more troubles this summer:)
ReplyDeleteEven Steven needs to do some evening for The Pony. The Universe has dealt him a bad hand over the past few months.
DeleteI was already retching from sinus drainage choking me. This added a new dimension...horror! Maggots have been known to infect humans. I would have to move out. I doubt all maggots were removed or assassinated. So, more flies and then more maggots. I buy a little cannister of fly bait like is used around cattle to keep a fly infestation that invades the house under control. He could put a little lid of it in the attic. When something in the neighborhood caused me to have dozens of flies come in the door, I set a lid of it in a window nearby and found many flies dead in the lid. It is expensive but works better than most things I have found.
ReplyDeletePoor Pony!
There won't be more maggots unless there is a source for flies to deposit their eggs. It's not like The Pony is using his attic as a carrion storage facility.
DeleteWhile The Pony may not have been able to track down and smash every single invader, he said he would much rather attack flies with a flyswatter than endure this ordeal again. If he should suffer a fly invasion, Hick can probably find such a fly bait at Rural King on one of his trips there.
Well you know I clicked on this story as quickly as I could!! No squeamish reader here. Did you know that labs grow maggots to use on some wounds that are horribly infected. They will eat the dead tissue and improve the healing results. But, this story is more about Hick's ignoring the facts as they were presented. Maybe he will listen now. Or, buy a ladder for The Pony!!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! Yes, I knew you would be eager to see what this was all about! I knew that leeches are used to draw out blood and reduce swelling. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I probably have read that maggots are used to clean up wounds. Forgive me for blocking that information out! Some things are too horrific to store in my mind!
DeleteHick did indeed seem sorry that this incident escalated into trauma for The Pony. But he is once again gaslighting, telling The Pony that there's no way his bathroom window doesn't open properly, since it worked when he installed it two years ago. I went by there today, and the bathroom window is at an angle, only opening about 4 inches. Hick now says that The Pony needs a ruler to prop it open!
If it is what we here in the south call catty-whompis, then it sounds like something is not level .... A ruler to prop it open seems like a temporary fix to me.
DeleteHick is good at temporary fixes. Second only to gaslighting.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear about the maggots but I was expecting it. Dead squirrel, warm weather, of course the smell is going to attract flies to deposit their eggs. I guess my virtual smacks on the head aren't reaching Hick after all.
ReplyDeleteI hope Hick has time, scratch that, I hope Hick MAKES time to fix the window. Just because it worked two years ago, doesn't mean something can't have gone wrong between then and now.
I was expecting the stench from Hick's neglect, but not a rain if maggots!!! If only your virtual smacks could have reached their target!
DeleteI realize that Hick works hard on the flip house. But family should come first, not making money from his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2), or odd jobs, or picking up merchandise to re-sell. There were plenty of days that he could have taken 15 minutes to check on that squirrel.
Yes, The Pony deserves a working window in his bathroom. One that doesn't need to be propped open.