Introducing Hector & his friends…

Our little adopted friend, Hector the Horny Toad Lizard. He’s very tame. I tried to upload a new picture, but it just won’t publish. Go figure???

Hector is our new pet it seems. This picture is taken next to our step and he just sits there as we go in and out. Actually, I’ve just researched this little fellow and he’s really a lizard. Better yet, they eat ants.

And that is great news since we are up to our axles in a termite field. When we first got here last week I noticed these strange mud tubes going all over the place on our pad. Not only on our pad, but the whole field around us and across the drive where we park our car. When I stepped on these tubes I noticed little white ants… TERMITES… YIKES!!!

Mud tubes/tunnels on the ground. The termites travel system.

Overview of the mud-tunnels termites use to move around and live in under less than ideal enviromental conditions… like out here.

Subterranian termite tubes. All of these pictures are taken from our pad site, field, and driveway around us.

Now when I hear the word termites I really panic. You see, my parents just lost their battle with the termites in their 160-180-year-old house in Illinois. Over the years my dad knew he had termites, but he always assumed the house would outlive them. Guess what, as my old room upstairs started to join the living room below and the kitchen was becoming a landmine of where to step safely, suffice it to say… THE TERMITES WON! They just sold part of their farm and bought a charming house in town. Mom is in heaven with central air-conditioning for the first time in her life.

This is how they travel all over by building their unique structures to protect them.

A termite colony on the move.

Termite colony on side of our gate driveway.

Back to our little pad co-dwellers… the termites. We called an exterminator who came and sprayed (Cost: $65) and told us they were not the kind that typically goes into a home and does damage. Huh?

He also said he didn’t think they were subterranian termites. Bob can’t remember what he called them (I was asleep). So I did some research and they definitely ARE subterranian termites. Now with our house being up in the air, it does make it harder for them to get into our home, but we plan to be very vigilant in our fight against them.

Just in case they are subterranian termites, the exterminator suggested we get buckets to collect the water dripping off our roof onto the ground (from the A/C units running). Water definitely attracts these fellows. Bob also opened the bag of lime we had in the car and spread it around the perimeter around our rig. When I go to town Wednesday (for the ladies DQ get together in Cotulla), I will go to the Ace Hardware store and get the spray and a sprayer. They recommended a spray for us to use to protect our RV.

We will be looking for mud tubes in the basement or even in the main living areas above, or what looks like areas of sand. Both would be signs of termite infestation. At that point we would need to have a tent fumigation done.

We are crossing our fingers and hoping these little creatures stay on the ground and will keep spraying to kill any near the coach. And y’all thought rattlesnakes, scorpions, and tarantulas were your biggest threats! Ha!!!

Talking about freak things that happen in the oil patch, we had a gustnado, well actually it was a powerful dust devel, go through here yesterday. It was a freaky thing for sure! Last winter out at the Nye ranch we saw many small dust devils, but this thing was way bigger and more powerful.

Bob was working and logging in a truck outside the door. I was sitting at my computer at the kitchen table. All of a sudden, the whole rig was shaking and the window awnings were vibrating. I looked outside and could not even see Bob or the truck just 10 feet from the coach. All I could see was a thick cloud of dust swirling around. After it was over, Bob had to go search for his sun hat in the field.

We had one of our two drilling rigs move out today. They will finish up tomorrow. Up until this event we did not have much dust and we were feeling pretty smug. But with all of the big trucks in & out today we have caliche dust the consistency of talcum powder and it is accumulating all over the inside. We now run two air filters and that is helping some. We’ll take any help we can get 😀

It certainly has been an eventful week. But we are keeping our cool and doing just fine and that’s all that matters!

Till next time,

Vicky