So...here's the icky story for the day. I decided to do some laundry this evening. I opened the lid of the washer and caught the movement of something inside the tub out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was some sort of bug but it disappeared under the edge of the agitator before I had a chance to focus on it. I wasn't even sure I'd actually seen anything. It was just a flicker of movement. Maybe. Hmmm...what to do? Since I wasn't even sure I'd seen anything, I went ahead and turned the water on. Sure enough, after a couple of seconds, a little gecko-type critter about 2 inches long scurried out from under the agitator. I turned the water off as I tried to figure out how to get the critter out. And it quickly disappeared back under the agitator. Hmmm...
I decided if I added enough water, it would try to get away by going up the side of the tub. And then, at least I'd be able to see it. So, I turned the water back on. And, the tub slowly filled up to the point that the critter should've been seeking asylum on the side of the tub. Alas...no such luck. Then it occurred to me that it might be able to escape the water inside the agitator. So, I drained the tub. Still no critter. And, now the question was: could it have gone down the drain? That seemed extremely unlikely. Should I just do my laundry and not worry about it? I didn't really like that idea. I mean, the thing could end up squished in my jeans. And, then baked in the drier. Not a pleasant thought.
So, I turned the water on again. This time, I filled the tub with about 6 or 7 inches of water. Still no gecko-like critter. Back to the spin cycle to drain the water and start filling tub again. And, out floats a...sadly...dead critter. I scooped it up with a plastic cup and flushed it down the toilet. Ick.
I'd seen a bigger one earlier in the evening when I checked the mailbox outside the front door. It was about 5 or 6 inches long. And, it gave me a fright as it darted out from behind the junk mail reminding me of an almost identical incident a few years ago. I ended up grabbing a gecko by the tail as I picked up the mail one day. When I realized it wasn't a rubber band under my thumb...that it was a live gecko (!), I jumped back and dropped the mail. Sadly, I dropped it in the house (instead of tossing it away from me and out the door) and the startled gecko dove for cover under the TV stand. It took me about 30 minutes to capture it and send it back outside.
Back to this evening. I don't know what the little one was doing in the clothes washer. The washer is out in the garage, though, and it's easy enough for critters to get in there. I hope its little gecko friends learned their sad lesson and that they stay away in the future! Again I say, though: ick!
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