Cricket Wrangling

Thing 1 has a friend over. The friend's older brother, in 4th grade, came along so their mother, who is in an intensive nurse training program could get a little kid-free study time. I've had the two of them before and usually the four kids all get along well enough.

Not today. Today the brother won't let Thing 1 and her friend have their "alone time." The mother and I were getting in some much needed mommy talking time before she left but kept being interrupted by the friend, who was complaining about her brother. Finally I suggested they all go feed the gecko. Entertainment for all. I've never just turned my girls loose with the feeding process, but they've been there most of the times I've done it, I think they should be fine.

The four kids come out to the front porch about five minutes later. The mom and I are still talking. How did the gecko feeding go? Did you dust them with the calcium?
"Yep," Thing 1 tells me. "Dotty cornered one of them. Two of them. Before she ate them. And... one of the crickets went down the drain."
So I have to ask, "What drain? You mean in the bathroom when you were dusting them?"
"Not a drain," says the brother. "She means the heating vent."
Thing 1 pipes up, "But we caught more, so she's had four." Like the issue is that the gecko had enough to eat. Sigh.
"So there's a cricket loose in their room?" I ask.
"No," says the brother. "There's two. One went behind the chair. But the one in the heating vent will get fried right up when you turn on the heat."
It looks like my plan of turning the gecko feeding over to the girls might result in a herd of wild crickets roaming their room.