Uninvited guests

[gluegungeisha]

At my roommate's in Atlanta there were fleas so bad that his cat died from the loss of blood. My two dogs and cat didn't have them nearly as bad, for some reason. Actually, the flea infestation in Atlanta made headlines that year.

That's horrible!! Poor thing...there are definitely many situations in which pest control of a more harsh kind is necessary.

I had a friend whose pet gecko was basically eaten alive by mites.

Luckily, the only pet-related bug problem I've had with any of my dogs was this weird grub thing that was actually making its home beneath my old dog Blanco's skin! We just noticed a big bump one day and had it checked out by a vet...it was very strange. It didn't do him any real harm, but it must have been incredibly uncomfortable for him!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Yes, we bug-bombed the apartment, combed, powdered, sprayed, bathed the old cat. He had other health problems as well, poor old thing, and he lived for several months after I left..
My brother had ringworm on his elbow but he coldn't feel it. Looked kewwwwl, though. Maybe Blanco couldn't feel the burrower, either. Icky darn parasites.

 

[Joie DeVive]

Most creepy crawlies get a pardon. I actually have a little clear plastic "bug box" I use to take them outside.

Those little moths called millers and silverfish get squished on sight.
Fleas and ticks would get death, though I haven't had to deal with them in a while since I currently have no pets.

But pretty much everything else just gets evicted.

 

[The Wolf]

depends on the bug

Ever since my navy double-breasted got moth eaten I kill moths with extreme prejudice. Ants inside the house die. Mosquitos die. Flies: dead. Black widows: dead. Niedermeyer: dead!
Spiders, bees, crickets, etc. I put outside carefully.
Basically If I decide they provide a service they get to live. If i decide they do nothing but harm they die.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[K.D. Lightner]

It depends on the insect and the situation. Mosquitos get swatted, so do flies, because they both carry disease. I always capture spiders and take them outside, spiders are one of my totems, do don't dare kill them.

I had to kill some ants one time, the tiny little red ones that get in your house. I woke up one morning to an army moving into my apartment, tried to scoop them up to put them outside, and discovered there were too many, so had to spray them with Windex (didn't have any bug spray). Outside, there is not an insect I would kill. I love bees, have had them land on my finger, was even able to "pet" a carpenter bee, they are so docile.

Once there was an infestation of mice in my apartment in San Diego. My friends said, "kill them, they are vermin." I couldn't do it so got a "tin cat," put down some peanut butter inside. In the morning, I could hear tapping, took the tin cat out to a field, opened it, and seven little critters jumped out, running in all directions.

I just can't kill them: too much exposure to Mickey, Minnie, Mighty, Stuart Little, Gus-Gus, and Fiefel. Why are they vermin but we immortalize them in stories and movies?

Favorite bugs: ladybugs, fireflies, beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets (Jiminy!) -- I love their chirping, reminds me of my childhood -- dragonflies, and right now, in Iowa, we have cicadas, they come around every 17 years or so. And, of course, I love spiders (Charlotte!).

karol

 

[Nashoba]

If it isn't human or dog in my household it dies. Simple as that. I have a rather large wattage insect lamp in the backyard too that sings me to sleep with the zapping of the little buggers. And then once a week or so I shake what's left of the bodies from the grate and they fall to the ground where they stay as a warning to all their little bug friends. The flies who are stupid enough to find their way into my house are subjected to the horrors of the dog. Maverick chases them and snaps at them and they usually fall down dead mid flight. It means I have bodies to clean up but he seems to think it's rather fun and chases them around the house until he gets bored with the game and kills them.....good dog....

 

[Starius]

This summer has brought forth a unusual amount of bug activity on our farm.

In the last 3 years, we've only had trouble with the asian "ladybug-like" beetles that were unfortunately brought in by our government. (Which was dumb because they're running amok)

But this summer, its everything BUT those asian beetles. We have fireflies out every evening, seems like weeks longer than we have had in the past. Which is cool. Grasshoppers multiplying like crazy eating holes in anything with a leaf.

Various beetles and ants have invaded the house. We had to kill a new ant colony that formed near the house, that seems to have helped. Lots of hairy black spiders this summer too, that I don't recall seeing often before. I even saw a silverfish in my bathroom sink, for the first time ever. Its starting to feel like an invasion around here. And as such, I have no qualms about killing them right now.

In times past, sometimes Id go the catch and release route. But not when I'm too aware that I'm outnumbered in my own home. Then its time to even the odds.

 

[gluegungeisha]

Once there was an infestation of mice in my apartment in San Diego. My friends said, "kill them, they are vermin." I couldn't do it so got a "tin cat," put down some peanut butter inside. In the morning, I could hear tapping, took the tin cat out to a field, opened it, and seven little critters jumped out, running in all directions.

I just can't kill them: too much exposure to Mickey, Minnie, Mighty, Stuart Little, Gus-Gus, and Fiefel. Why are they vermin but we immortalize them in stories and movies?
karol

Geez, I wish the rodents in my house were that easy to catch! I swear, these desert mice and rats are highly evolved creatures...seriously.

When we used the humane no-kill traps, they figured out how to escape from them. Then we tried the sticky ones...those are terrible!! The rodents get very distressed and will go as far as chewing off their own feet to escape...then they'll die a very slow death after that. When I was really little, I used to cry whenever my stepdad caught a mouse and killed it by drowning it or putting it in the snow during winter.

I wouldn't care about rodents so much if they didn't carry so many diseases. Bubonic plague is still present in my area, though it's mostly carried by prairie dogs. We found a cougar that was killed by the plague in an arroyo right next to my house a few years ago.

Mice eat the weirdest things! One mouse ate an entire package of wasabi in the pantry. They like tofu too, apparently...very cultured animals. Once a mouse somehow managed to sneak into my bathroom drawer and eat my toothbrush...ewww! I'm really glad I'm moving to a part of town where mice aren't a typical problem.

Packrats have caused us a lot of trouble, but they're pretty amazing too. They like to make their homes under the hoods of our cars. I always lift the hood before leaving my house, and I've been surprised with very intricate nest designs, integrating perfectly symmetrically placed cactus pieces, feathers, etc. I wish I had photos...some of the stuff they build is unbelievable! They started chewing on the cords in the car, though, so we placed one of those noisy rat repellers inside the car. They somehow knew exactly which cord was connected to the device, and the next morning we found that the rats had chewed it right it half! A few days ago I found a rat's nest sitting right over the light on the garage door. Exactly how they got up there is beyond me.

Here's a picture of a baby mouse I found on my sister's rug a month ago. He wasn't going to make it, but he was really happy that I gave him some water and a Cheeto. He liked to climb up the wall of the cup, look at me, squeak, and run back down to eat again. I'm not sure what happened to its tail; it looks like something tried to catch it.

 

[panamag8or]

Moths, of course, must die.

When I first read this, I thought "Why is he scared of moths"? Then, I realized that for the sake of our beloved hats and suits, moths must be eradicated.

 

[Miss Sis]

ALL MOTHS MUST DIE!

We are a bit paranoid about it in our house with our large collection of vintage clothes.

The other night it was:

"Oh my God, I saw two small moths! In the kitchen! I killed both of them!"

"Right, the wardrobe gets vacummed out ASAP!"

Spiders, I just scoop them up in a glass and put them outside, but they seem to like inside much better. lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

I feel guilty if I swat a mosquito, but I do it anyway. Most everything else, though, I try to catch and let outside, unless of course my cat gets it first. She, like all felines, has a far different set of values.

I might feel differently about all this if we had roaches in Maine -- they're the one insect that truly turn my stomach -- but fortunately they can't hack the winters here so we don't have them.

 

[Spitfire]

Whasps, mosquitoes and others are fair game in my book - I do it to them, before they do it to me.
All the others are kindly directed to the garden.

 

[Smithy]

I'm a "shoot first, ask questions later" person when it comes to bugs in the house.

Mind you I did live in Sydney, Australia where there were a lot of big, hairy, venomous things that would come inside and try and bite you. Oh, and the insects weren't too good either

 

[Starius]

Spiders, I just scoop them up in a glass and put them outside, but they seem to like inside much better. lol

Of course they do.... you have a moth magnet in the closet that does all the work for them!


Just kidding.

 

[Empyrium]

I show them where is the exit door.
and i force them to go out...

 

[Starius]

Just remembered another bug I've been fighting this summer... because Spitfire just mentioned them. Wasps.

I discovered 12 wasp nests located on the inside of our machine shed doors. They're the kind of door that sit on the outside of a building and slide open and closed. Apparently, when they are open, that little pocket of inside door space up against the exterior walls makes an excellent place to build a wasp nest.

I think some might be abandoned nests. Man, I hope so at least. I hate wasps and hornets.

 

[KittyT]

Usually I put one of my cats nearby too see if they'll notice and maybe have a little fun with the poor, unwanted creepy-crawly. Usually, it sends them (the cats, not the bugs!) into a tizzy.

 

[Nashoba]

I'm not a big fan of yellowjackets. Actually I hate 'em. When my husband and I were lifeguards together I would come to relieve him from the tower and there would almost always be a pile of them on the ground next to him. He'd swat them out of the air and they'd fall down dead at his feet. He used to yell at me to keep the bodies there....so that all their little bee friends would know what awaited them.....

 

[Bebop]

It depends on the bug. If I see a spider, I have to kill it because there are too many spiders that could maime or kill me around here. If it's a moth, I just leave it alone. I once did a photo project on moths and since then I have a soft spot for them. I could never figure out what the harm is in having ants in the house. As long as they are not in swarms, I simply leave them. Maybe I just don't know enough about bugs to fear them. [huh]

 

[dhermann1]

Well, even tho I live in the BIG CITY, I have a little back yard, which is connected to all the other back yards on the block, creating a nice little miniature urban forest. I've had raccoons and possums at my back door in my old place. In my present place I have clothes moths, which get nailed in mid air if I can catch them. But as for spiders, the old folks in the country used to say "If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive." So that's my policy.
But by far the most obnoxious intruders I get are slugs. My bedroom is the last room in back, and I have a door leading right out to the garden. When it's hot I often leave the iron gate locked on the outside, but the door inside is left open. So the little slimers slither their way right into my bedroom, and I come home in the evening to find them sliming across the rug. Super ultra ugh! I pick them up with a towel or old sock or something and toss them out. They're so gross that I don't even want to squish them. All other critters are allowed to live, except some times mosquitoes, which, after all, spread malaria.