Swimming with Critters

Swimming, sort of

Scorpions and flies do not swim very well. Either that, or they can't climb out of a swimming pool very well. Or maybe the ones around the desert never learned how to swim. In any case, this scorpion drowned and it's the time of year when flies get stuck in the pool.

We've been keeping the pool covered, especially overnight when the temperatures drop. Sometimes there's a little surprise when we uncover.

Usually it's a horde of flies. The silly critters like to drink; odd, eh? Trouble is, once they dip, they're stuck. I wonder if they ever figure out about surface tension.

Oh well. No need to mourn too many of them. Once they are skimmed out with my trusty swimming pool skimmer-net, they revive in a few tens of minutes. Happy, but none the smarter.

Drying out, sort of

Couple of mornings ago, we had a nice surprise. Well, it was a lot less nice for the scorpion on the bottom of the pool. Looks like it gave up the ghost while in a ready-to-sting posture. Dead. Defunct.

So far I've seen two kinds of scorpions around here. This is the big, kinda orange colored. The other kind is small and dark. They say it's the sting of the small ones that are more nasty. I don't have the experiences to compare, but the sting I got from one of the small guys was only a nuisance.

This guy was about three inches long. I can't be sure because it was stuck in the ready-to-sting position. It may have been defunct, but I didn't want to unwind its tail.

Good thing we shocked the pool a couple three weeks ago. ("Shock" in the world of swimming pool maintenance means overdosing on chlorine.) Our water is nice and clear. I can spot a small pebble on the deep bottom. So it's not like there is any risk of swimming with critters.

When monsoon season comes, we'll be fishing frogs out of the pool. Meanwhile, Shari has taken to swimming in the cool mornings when the water is only 92 degrees.

.