Copyright Rijana
Uninvited Pets
If you ask someone about their pets, they usually start talking about their dog, cat, canary or goldfish. Those are just a few, of course.
In every house there are also a lot of uninvited pets living. They feel right at home in our houses and find shelter and a hiding place there -
So we are talking about wild animals. Don't believe me? Let's take a look.
Damp
Let's start in the basement. No matter how well you tidy up the basement and how clean you keep it, you will always find a few woodlice.
They are related to crabs and lobsters. Just like crustaceans, they breathe through gills.
That's why they only occur in a damp environment such as in basements. Of course you will also find spiders there. Somewhere in a dim corner, a cellar spider
hangs upside down in its web.
If you touch its web, it starts to vibrate incredibly fast on its long thin legs. Hence its name.
You will also find the house spider, one of our largest spiders, there of course. You don't need to be afraid of it.
On the contrary, they are useful animals to have in the house, they catch a lot of mosquitoes and flies.
Silverfish owe their name to the shiny silvery scales that cover their body.
They don't like daylight and prefer damp, dark spots in the basement or even in the bathroom. They eat all kinds of leftovers such as pieces of paper,
breadcrumbs or flour. If you disturb them, they run away lightning fast.
And then there are the mosquitoes. They often hibernate in large numbers in damp basements.But if they are disturbed during their hibernation, they become
bloodthirsty and you can get a mosquito bite even in winter!
or dry!
But there are also pets in the attic. Ladybugs wait there in a crack of the window frame until spring comes again.
You also often find hibernating butterflies there, such as the small tortoiseshell. Leave it alone because if you bring it into the warmth, it will die.
Outside in winter it can't find any food anyway.
Sleepy wasp
If you find a large sleepy wasp in the attic in winter, it is a young fertilized queen. The males, the workers and the old queen died in the autumn.
She wakes up from hibernation in the spring and goes looking for a place to build a nest.
Lacewings also often hibernate in attics and in unheated rooms. If all goes well, they remain motionless all winter.
But if it gets too warm in their hibernation spot, they wake up and die of exhaustion.
Bats
Common pipistrelles spend the summer in a quiet attic.
During the day they rest, but when it gets dark they go outside to hunt insects. They usually spend the winter somewhere else.
Finally, there is also the house mouse. In summer, house mice live outside but in autumn they look for a house again.
They live in attics, under floors, in cavity walls, as long as there is food and nesting material to be found.
Only when there is a cat roaming around the house do they take off.
