Kill the f@cking moths

mudpuppie — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:11:40 -0800

Please, please help me with this moth infestation. I'm suffering the worst grain moth infestation EVAR. It started in the garage; apparently they came home in a bag of chicken feed. I didn't realize they were there until they'd already colonized the garage (the condition of which would probably get me locked up by the Health Department -- which is hopefully beside the point). Anyway, by then they'd moved into the pantry.

I tried pheromone traps. They work at the trapping, but I think they also send the moths into sexual overdrive. I think it basically made them spawn.

Late last week I threw away everything in the pantry that wasn't in a sealed jar or can. (Threw away about 100 lbs of food, in fact.) Wiped the shelves down with orange-based cleaner. The pantry is still empty. I check it every day, and I still find and kill a 8-12 moths daily. I also find a handful flying about the rest of that part of the house. They have no longer have a food source there, but they keep showing up. (I cleaned all of the chicken feed and bird food out of the garage too, by the way.)

Part II: I couldn't figure out why I kept seeing them in the bedroom and office, so far away from the kitchen. I figured they were just traveling. But today, in cleaning out the closet, I found an old backpack that contained a bag of almonds and a granola bar -- both with well established larvae colonies. I've been swatting moths in the office and the closet ever since. Got rid of the offending foodstuffs.

Here's the bigger problem: I'm about to leave for two weeks or more. I think I've cleared out all of their possible food sources, but I'm afraid that they'll re-establish while I'm gone.

If there's nothing for them to eat, will they die, or will successive generations still find some way to hold on?

I've got two cats running around, so setting off a bug bomb isn't an option. Swearing profusely at them also doesn't work.

Any advice for things I can do to make sure they haven't taken over the place when I come home in a couple weeks?

(For the record, I've read this thread and I think I've pretty much done everything suggested there. My main concern is about the two weeks I'm not going to be here. No one will be here to swat them, and I'd like to know whether there are any preventative measures I can take. I will also accept reassurance that it's not going to be a problem, that they're going to starve to death. Or, if you know of other things that might feed them and that I should purge, please advise.)

[Anecdotal aside: Live moths seem to show up in the places where I've swatted other (now-dead) moths. Am I just making more and more pheromone stations for them by swatting them where I find them?]

Killing Roaches

muckster — Sat, 05 Mar 2005 05:47:50 -0800

What's the most effective, least toxic way to kill the hordes of cockroaches that have infested my kitchen? I don't trust that the usual Raid stuff won't hasten my own death, especially if I have to keep spraying it near my food every night. It never seems to have any lasting effect beyond killing the single roach it's aimed at, anyway. What's the best poison (or method) to keep the bugs at bay and my kitchen healthy?

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Kill the f@cking moths

Killing Roaches