It seems that we've noticed a lot of little gnats in our house recently. Actually, I hadn't been convinced that we had an excessive amount living with us. I wondered instead if my highly sensitive entomologist roommate (Binta) was just making a big deal about the same 3 or 4 guys. Three or four seems like a manageable number. I'm sure I could find that many in any given home.
But that foolish attempt to self-deceive ended the moment I happened to open the cupboard this evening to put a measuring bowl away. Now, those three or four have been joined by a colony of gnats. It's a problem now.
Just so my reader doesn't lose faith in me at this point, I'd like to remind him or her of several things:
- I've never forgotten to pay my rent.
- I've never forgotten a student's report card.
- I've never forgotten my child at the grocery store.
But I did forget about a 5 pound bag of russett potatoes in the back of my cupboard.
Instantly, my olfactory senses detected the problem. As I lifted the dripping (yes, dripping!) bag out of the cupboard, the gnats (or maybe they're not gnats, after all...I'd rather not know, at this point) flew in all directions, clearly angered and disturbed by my inconsiderate act. The bag felt dense and pudgy in my hand - distinctly wrong, not at all what a sack of potatoes should feel like.
I knew enough to get the rotting 5 pound corpse of rancid potatoes out of my house immediately. As the sack skulked on the concrete, I warned Binta to stay back.
Although I didn't know the horror we were about to witness. I should have had her run back in the house and lock the door and put her head under her pillow and start praying to god.
Instead, I leaned in with the scissors, so that I could slice open the bag to get the exceptional camera shot. My hand poised above the muck, I suddenly sensed movement coming from inside the bag.
There was something moving inside the bag.
I looked closer and retched with repugnance. Yes, if you haven't yet figured it out: Maggots. Maggots in the bag means there were MAGGOTS in my house!
I'm still a little shaky from the events of this evening, and feeling a little reluctant to go to sleep in the house. However, I wonder if perhaps I'm being too hard on myself?
I'm going to tell myself that this kind of thing is common, and has happened to many others. In the comments section below, I'd appreciate you sharing a time when you found maggots in your house. Make something up if you have to. Please.
4 comments:
When I owned my RV Repair Center in Kent, a customer had left his Motorhome for servicing, which required that we drive it into the shop on Friday to work on the following week. On Monday, 2 of my Technicians attempted to enter the coach & RAN back out. The odor was so strong I knew we had to get it out of the shop immediately! I took a deep breath, ran into the coach started it & backed it out of the shop. I jumped out of the RV and sucked in fresh air. After a moment I went in again, opened all windows & ran out. While inside I saw a suspicious plastic bag in the sink. Another breather outside & back in again, this time directly to the sink. I observed the plastic bag in the sink, about the size of a football, it was undulating visibly. I left to get rubber gloves, open the dumpster lid & prepare for what I was to learn would be one of the worst experiences I can remember. As I took the "package" to the dumpster I can only tell you that it felt ALIVE! Later the customer apologized as he had left the MEAT for a week before he brought the coach to us!
A neglected banana in my college dorm room freshman year had a little crack in its skin and when I went to throw it away I noticed some small maggots eating the banana flesh. See, it happens! (And now I'm going to throw away a slightly old and wrinkly bag of potatoes that I have in my kitchen.)
It's "Making a Difference in the World" experiences like these that remind me why I was meant to blog.
holy cow - this is a learning experience for me. i did not know that maggots enjoyed non-meat food. thanks for making a difference in the world, Tiff.
while i have never had maggots in my house (that i know of), several years ago i went to make pizza crust and the sack of organic flour in the back of the cupboard had house guests. you know those little bugs occasionally found in flour? well, this sack was moving with the little things. not as gross, but still disturbing.
p.s. great photos to depict the scene.
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