- Apart from mosquitoes, ants, and termites, each of which is dealt with in a separate chapter, there are other wild animals that should be prevented from entering the houses. These are mainly mice and rats, snakes, and the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), ตุ๊กแกบ้าน (tukae ban) in Thai.
- The only way to keep these animals outside is to keep the doors or mosquito-screen doors closed, and windows or mosquito-screen windows closed. Usually, all houses get sufficient air circulation if the mosquito-screen doors are closed but the doors open. Never keep both open if you are not in the room or not nearby.
- Other unwanted animals are highly venomous centipedes, ตะขาบ (takhap) in Thai, and scorpions, แมลงป่อง (malaeng pong) in Thai, the latter can pierce you very painfully though not deadly. When they are detected in the house, they have to be immediately removed. For your protection, we recommend walking inside the house with carpet slippers or home sandals. Do not go barefoot, especially outdoors.
- Not uncommon inhabitants of the interior of houses are spiders and the Asian house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), จิ้งจก (ching chok) in Thai. Both are not dearly loved animals, they don't cause any harm, and are useful in eating small insects, but provide an unwanted legacy.
- At Baan Sammi, we never saw or met monitor lizards, neither on land nor in water. Snakes are found in many different habitats across Thailand. You will rarely encounter a snake as it will flee as you approach. Many snakes can swim, some snakes live near ponds, and some can stay in the inland water, but the latter, as far as we know, are not dangerous to humans. In the vicinity of water we saw only one species, Enhydris enhydris (Rainbow Water Snake), งูปลา (ngu pla), but only rarely, maybe once a year.
- If you work in a natural garden in dense vegetation, there are actually only two animal species that are unpleasant to dangerous. These are colonies of red ants (Solenopsis species, Fire Ant), as well as nests of wasps. You will hardly come across these animals in the designed private gardens.
- You will not often come across unwanted animals on paved or unpaved paths. On the narrower paths, ants' paths can sometimes cross your way. A snake may lie on a sunny stretch of trail, mostly in the morning during the cool season, but snakes will usually flee if they hear you before you can see them. So that snakes can hear you, do not run or sneak on paths. Branches can hang down from trees and bamboo, especially along the narrower paths, and you could accidentally touch them while walking by. A small green tree snake can hide in the branches, which often goes unnoticed. While not all green tree snakes are poisonous, you should not get too close to them.
A swarm of honey bees settled on a tree trunk at Baan Sammi, May 2023 (left),
experts from the pest control company sprayed a pesticide into the bees' nest at the eaves of Dillenia Bungalow, December 2023 (right) - Bees are not usually considered unwanted residents or visitors to gardens, but when they start building a nest under the roof of a house, this perception changes. For the first time in 20 years, approximately in April 2023, a swarm of bees settled at mid-height on a tree trunk on the Baan Sammi property. It was supposed that the bees (possibly Apis dorsata, Giant Honey Bee) were "taking a rest from their quest to find a new home having swarmed, probably after the swarm outgrew its previous hive", then they would move on in a week or so in one month at the latest (Thai Biodiversity Survey & Species ID, 18 May 2023). However, by the end of the year, the bees still stayed at that tree but a swarm of them found a new residence only about a hundred meters distance: The eaves of the Dillenia Bungalow. Although the bees did not behave aggressively, no one wanted a bee nest so close to their living area. That's why the experts from the pest control company had to come and make the bees' nest uninhabitable by spraying a pesticide on 28 December 2023. However, we worry that the bees have not yet given up looking for a place to live. The eaves of other houses and the wooden pavilions on the Baan Sammi property could be suitable as a new permanent bee home. Therefore, we ask all Baan Sammi residents to inform us as early as possible if bees are buzzing around close to buildings and especially their roofs so that we can take immediate countermeasures if necessary.
- Thanks to the numerous cats permanently living on the Baan Sammi property (currently 5 cats), the population of rats and mice is low. So far, these animals have not intruded into closed rooms in houses. Still, there are four buildings where rats and mice can easily enter: the huts in which water pumps, water tanks, and washing machines are located. Cats can also enter two of the four huts, so it is unlikely that rats and mice will stay there long-term; nevertheless, in two other huts, which both have lockable access doors, rats and mice can enter freely through openings in the top of the huts, but not cats. These are the water pump and water tank huts of the Tai Saeng Chan Pavilion (Moonlight Pavilion) and the Dillenia Home. In order to allow the cats access to these two huts, the doors should not be closed, but rather left permanently ajar and kept secured with a hook against wind and penetrating rain, as shown in the photo.
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| Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), ตุ๊กแกบ้าน (tukae ban): a lovely only when young |
