MetaChat - Pestilence!

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26 February 2008

Pestilence! A post whose subtitle is "Goddamn fucking pests are going to DIE!!!"→[More:]

I'm generally a gentle and peaceful person. For the most part, as the saying goes, I couldn't hurt a fly. (Physically, that is. Give me a fly that understands a good tongue-lashing and it's a different story.)

All that is over now. Over the past 4 months, my house has faced infiltrations of grain moths (millions), rats (2 on the ground, several others in the crawlspace/attic), and houseflies (hundreds; they hatched from somewhere in/above the bathroom last week).

That's it. I'm all in.

I found another vent on the roof that had been patched long ago, but which has basically been serving as a revolving door for the rats. I have an exterminator coming on Thursday who's going to set baited traps. (The rats go in, but they can't go out -- and that keeps them from dying in the yard and poisoning the chickens.) Today I trimmed the neighbor's shrubbery away from my roof, so that should help too.

I've swatted more flies than I can count over the past week, so now I'm decorating the windows with fly paper.

The moths only showed up again two days ago, and I'm annihilating them with extreme prejudice.

No more. Fuck karma! I've been nice for too long.

Don't fuck with me, bugs/rodents. I'm mad as hell. If you know what's good for you, you'll go far, far away.

And yes, I realize I'm making the somewhat loony assumption that my plagues read Metachat. But hey, who knows.

post by: mudpuppie at: 00:37 | 12 comments

You're so cute, even when you're in complete annihilation mode.

I understand your pain though - We had little moths in my house for a year. They would try and fly up your nose or in your mouth. Turns out, they were living in a mug with some nuts in it. The nuts came in my stocking for Christmas and I had forgotten about them (I hate nuts). The flies are worse though - they attack you when you're sleeping or trying to fall asleep. We had a short fly infestation, but I never figured out where they came from. Those bastards all died.

posted by youngergirl44 26 February | 00:52

I let rodents and bugs live outside. They come in the house they die. I'm good with that.

posted by arse_hat 26 February | 01:09

Good lord. *makes hasty anti-hex sign against plagues reading metachat*

I haven't bought any grain/beans/etc. from open bins since reading the askme thread on pantry moths. Aaaargh. That thread haunts me. But pupps, triple whammy? eeeeaaaaauuuuggggggghhhhh!

*knocks on wood* Despite having doors and windows always open in nice weather (so much so, that it's really sort of indoor/outdoor house), I'm lucky to have nothing but spiders - whom I do not bother (and sometimes make encouraging little coochiecoo noises at) as I'm under the possibly misguided impression they are keeping the other things away. I wouldn't mind some lizards, either, if they didn't eat the spiders.

posted by taz 26 February | 02:17

mudpuppie, why don't you have the guy come over and spray your house? That's what we have done here generally, when things start to get a little out of hand. It does take a bit of effort, you have to cover everything that you don't want to be stained with the insecticide (or whatever it is that they use), and after the whole thing is over, you have to give the house a good cleaning, but it does keep the house insect/rodent free for a couple of months at least.

The only downside is, on the day of the fumigation, you're going to have to stay at someone else's house, and might have to spend another day or two there (just in case), but like I said--in the long run--it'd be worth it.

???

posted by hadjiboy 26 February | 04:29

I wouldn't mind some lizards, either, if they didn't eat the spiders

taz, I hate--Hate--lizards. Not so much that I'll go in search of them to kill 'em (if they're not disturbing me, I won't disturb them--but if they're standing between me and a door, then it's war--and I usually end up winning.

posted by hadjiboy 26 February | 04:33

mudpuppie, I feel your pain. I have these very tiny ants that have invaded my house. A spray with Windex kills them in their tracks, but they come back. There is a trail of them coming from the outlet in my kitchen, which is very strange since it is an inside outlet. I was so frustrated yesterday. I told my husband I was calling an exterminator. Hubby says no, to allow him to "spray". This means buying a jug of Ortho from Home Depot and dousing every nook and cranny. This makes me nervous because of my kids and dog. I can't take these friggin ants any longer. We also have a few massive flies and mosquitoes that make their way in because we leave the back slider open so often. The flies get so huge and fat and disoriented I can catch them with my hand.

posted by LoriFLA 26 February | 08:40

Push for the exterminator, Lori - they can optimize for kids and pets.

WRT to grain moths - GAH - you need to find the source and eliminate propagation. There are a couple approaches - the first one is to remove anything and everything that could be harboring them. Empty your cupboards and throw away or compost. The other approach is to contain. This means that anything potentially tasty to a moth needs to be sealed in something moth impervious (glass jars - plastic bags don't cut it). This will seal moths out and larvae in. You'll quickly figure out what's been contaminated.

I worked with a guy who lived in grad student housing that was rat-infested (CHEAP!) and he and his room mates coped by storing all food in (new) empty paint cans.

posted by plinth 26 February | 11:12

We had rats once at our old house. It still freaks me out. The flies are from the rats, 'cause one of them has probably died somewhere, and the flies appear in great volume for a few days, just before the smell comes. I would say, ya, extreme prejudice. Kill those fuckers as quick as you can because they multiply FAST...I read a website that had some terrifying math about how quickly and exponentially their population can grow. The traps may not work, they might catch one but then they get smart and you won't catch anymore. The only thing that worked for us was throwing baggies full of that blue pellet poison into holes in the basement ceiling, behind the oven, under the sink, etc. Then I sealed every hole outside the house I could find. I used that expanding polyurethane foam. Apparently they can fit into a hole the size of a dime. I also feel your pain; I hate those creatures more than anything. Good luck.

posted by chococat 26 February | 11:23

Good luck with the pestilence, mudpuppie. We had a moth infestation too -- they fed off some several-year-old pistachios in an antique vending machine. We discovered them when I spotted a caterpillar on the ceiling, then more, and more... argh. Got them under control after a week or two, but one still pops up on occasion. Just about drove me mad.

posted by me3dia 26 February | 13:04

Yikes, good luck on the infestation control! I am lucky in that our only issue is the occasional spider or house centipede (*shudder*). I just direct my cat's attention to the bug and she takes care of the rest.

posted by misskaz 26 February | 15:19

Yeah, the cats are over it. I yell at them to get the bugs and they look at me like, "Again? This goes way beyond my pay grade, woman." Then they put their heads back down and resume their naps.

posted by mudpuppie 26 February | 16:25

I used to live in a neighborhood in Philadelphia in which every house pretty much had permanent grain moths. It was fucking vile - I've never seen the likes of it. You couldn't get rid of 'em. Nothing like opening up a box of cereal, and *shudder*.

I haven't seen a single one since moving to New England. Word was that the things had their origin in the hippie co-op we all shopped at. Regardless - it was a total infestation and it was grody. I feel for ya.

Flies creep me out almost as much as anything, though, especially the fat slow ones. Iiiick. Also when there are a lot of flies I wonder if something has died somewhere and that's where they're coming from. Further ick.

I have a periodic problem with tiny ants. The best secret about ants is that they don't like soap. I just sop the whole counter and cabinets with sudsy water and that keeps them at bay. Occasionally I get fed up and get some sticky traps.

posted by Miko 28 February | 01:01

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