Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with pest

ants! ants! ants! kill! kill! kill!

grumblebee — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:40:02 -0800

Help me rid my apartment of ants! They're little black sugar ants, and up until a couple of weeks ago, they were everywhere. I made sure food was packed away, bought a bunch of those little ant "hotels", sprinkled cinnamon and boric acid everywhere... nothing helped. (The ants avoid the cinnamon and boric acid. But they just move to another location in my apartment.)

I finally gave up and called in an exterminator. He sprinkled something that looked like pepper in various places, said "leave that stuff there for a week," and left. I had to go out of town for ten days. I just got back, and there are still ants running around on the kitchen counter.

However: that pepper-like stuff did help. I'd say it killed (or scared off) 80% of the ant population. I feel like if the exterminator had just sprinkled some more if it, in a few more places, I'd be antless.

Does anyone know what the "pepper" is? I don't want to call the exterminator back and pay him to sprinkle stuff on the floor that I could sprinkle myself.

Not Inspector Gadget

apostrophe — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:58:30 -0800

Would you please share your recommendations for home inspectors and/or pest inspectors in or around Oakland, CA? My husband and I just put an offer in on our first house, and it was accepted. Woohoo! Now we need to set up the inspections, stat. Our agent is from out-of-town (there's a good reason for this--she's family), so she doesn't know who to call. The seller's agent has promised to get us a recommendation, but that feels slightly conflict-of-interest-y to me, even though she seems very cool. The house is bank-owned and 'as-is,' so we're not likely to be able to get any concessions on the price--this is more for our peace-of-mind that we're not buying a total money pit. The house is 100 years old so we expect some issues. Would love recommendations for thorough, knowledgeable inspectors, specifically a general type as well as pest. I searched yelp and elsewhere and apparently this isn't a hot topic of discussion. Thank you.

Friend, foe, or escargot?

desuetude — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:07:24 -0800

Help me identify this garden snail, please? Most of the info I've found on garden snails is centered on the Pacific Northwest & California. I'm in Philly, and am unsure as to what varieties of snails are common on the east coast. Photos of my critters here.

The shell is quite flat -- flatter than the photos of the brown garden snail (in the second photo, you can see an empty shell behind the snail.) They're not shy -- when I pick them up, they only retreat into their shell if tapped. Otherwise they unhesitatingly and lasciviously stretch out. The one modeling for photos was getting cuddly with my finger five seconds after I plucked him from his lair. They seem to be concentrated mostly around the concrete blocks, but I've found them throughout the planter.

In case this is relevant (as I'm a gardening n00b), these are in a cement-block planter which has contained tulips, daffodils, ivy, a rosebush, and many weeds, including a very healthy infestation of morning glory.

Why are dead gnats appearing on my bedroom windowsill?

shivohum — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:53:09 -0800

A while ago gnats invaded my windowsill (in NY). I sprayed Raid. They died. I cleaned the area. Now, every day or two dead gnats appear on my windowsill. From where I don't know. No trash, no damp areas I see--only a heater/AC unit--and I've never seen gnats fly out of it. The only plants are in the other room; no gnats around them. Where are they coming from and how do I get rid of them?

Name that Central Texas wasp

fructose — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:08:00 -0800

Central Texas wasp ID? Small, gray, found indoors hovering around lights? I am having a hard time identifying what kind of waspish insect I am seeing in my house in Austin, Texas. I've lived in Austin my entire life, but I've never seen any wasp of this type.

Every few days to few weeks I will see a single gray wasp-type insect about 3/4 to 1 inch long. Usually it is in the bathroom around the light fixture. It is not aggressive as far as I can tell. My roommate spraying it with wasp killer a few times usually does the trick.

I am terrified of wasps after being stung in the eyelid when I was little, even of wasp-looking things that dont sting, so I really would prefer these weren't in the house.

When we first moved in in August, there were some abandoned mud dauber-type nests on the doors and all around the porch that we got rid of, but no signs of the bugs themselves.

Any clue what we've got here? I've googled and googled and looked at field guides online, and the closest I can think of is the cicada killer, but my wasps seem too small to be those or typical mud daubers.

BZZZZZZZZZZ

fillsthepews — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:55:33 -0800

Wasp paranoia??!! I've found two giant nasty looking wasps in my house over the past two/three weeks. One was in our back room, where the door is left open now and then. Didn't think much of it. However, just found another one all the way across the house in the garage, where there isnt really any way to get in.

Clearly, my panicky mind figures there's a wasp nest somewhere in the walls of the house. My roomie and I just walked the permiter of the house - didnt hear/see anything.

My fear is further exacerbated by a past experience with bees - they invaded my house via an old cooking vent that hadn't closed up properly.

What can I do? Where do they hide? Am I being insane? All the info I've found is pretty generalized "ie once you find the nest, do xyz." Can you call Terminex, for example, and say "Hey! I've got bugs, dont know where?! Come and get em?"

If this is a cockroach, what do I do?

Caper's Ghost — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:53:34 -0800

Tonight I found this insect on the wall of my apartment. What is it? Tonight I found this insect on the wall of my apartment. My girlfriend’s dog actually found it first (thank god she wasn’t here at the time), and I found the dog staring at it. The bug was about 4 feet up on the wall, just sitting there. This was at roughly 8:00 p.m. EST. I tried to brush it down to the floor and it flew off the wall. It seemed to fly very lightly and easily, like a moth almost, but it didn’t fly more than a few feet down to the floor. I saw it fly a few times, but never more than a few feet. I managed to capture it easily (perhaps in part thanks to the dog, Teddy, who mauled it a bit). After capturing it in a drinking glass, I took some pictures of it. I think it sustained some physical trauma from the dog, because it has been very easy to capture and control and I always heard that roaches were very elusive.

After taking some pictures of the beastie, I killed it with ammonia-based generic brand window cleaner. After that I photographed it next to a coin for size comparison.

After some quick google research, I don’t know exactly how to classify this insect. It looks a lot like a roach of some sort. The wing pattern seems to look like what I consider a roach, but it is very light-brown colored. Most pictures of roaches I came across are a lot darker than the thing I found on my wall.

A few more facts: I live in an apartment in suburban Alexandria, Virginia, USA. My roommate and I are not exceptionally messy, but we have been known to let some stuff pile up in the sink or garbage can now and then. Nothing ridiculous though, just a little cluttered at times. The neighborhood is pretty clean though, and I have heard no other complaints of cockroach infestations. My building is three floors tall (I’m at the top) and it has four apartments on each floor.

Also, yesterday I got back from a two-day long camping trip to West Virginia, and brought a bunch of stuff up to the apartment from the car. There is a possibility that I brought this in from outside.

To date this is the first experience I have had with what may be a cockroach. Tell me, mefites, is it a roach? If so, what kind? Where may it have come from, and do I or will I have an infestation on my hands?

Thanks!

Cricket Crashing my Condo!

Tinen — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:01:26 -0800

An unwelcome guest resides in my home. A demon of a creature known only as a cricket. Now for years I have lived here and occasionally there has been a cricket or two. Luckly I can dispatch it quickly with a Sandal of Slaying and wipe it away quickly with a Sock of Sorrow. Recently though a devious cricket has come calling at my condo. The sucker is in my bathroom, in a wall and will not shut up all night long. *chirp* *chirp* *CHIRP*. I have heard cricket sounds before, at times they are pleasant. This cricket unleashes a cacophony of noise which can only herald the coming of the apocalypse.

So to the question. How can I get rid of it and prevent future cricket intruders? I am not sure how they are getting in. But they mostly hang out in my bathroom. I think there could be a crack in the dry wall from a flood that happened a year or two back. But that is inside of the sink cabinet and against the wall. Fixing that though will not prevent my current cricket problem. This cricket has been here for at least a month and is driving me slowly insane. Now I cant tent the place and I cant tear up the bathroom. So those two are out. What kind of sprays or devices or traps can I use to deter crickets? Also his location is difficult to pin point because when I step in the bathroom he stops chirping. As soon as I exit the bathroom he starts up again. Grrrr.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How to achieve the silence of the crows?

jgt246 — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:24:00 -0800

How can I silence the crows that have moved into the tree outside my window? I need to deal with a murder of crows without actually murdering them. We recently moved into a new apartment in Tokyo with a couple of lovely big trees next to our 2nd-floor balcony. Now our peace is being destroyed by the incessant cawing of a bunch of crows that have taken up residence in the trees. If you've never seen the Japanese version of these birds, they are enormous, aggressive, Hitchcockian nightmares that are not easily scared. Short of buying a pellet gun, how can I get rid of them?

What is this bug and how do I destroy it?

adamrice — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 07:35:20 -0800

I have found destructive insects living in a wool rug (photos 1, 2, 3). I'd like to know what they are, and more importantly, how to prevent them from re-appearing. In the third picture are what I thing might be egg cases made from rug fibers (that's the rug's color). I've had this rug for about ten years, but have never had this problem before. I moved a year ago, and the part of the rug with the most damage is right next to the return for my house's AC system—I suspect the bugs were living in the duct behind that.

I'm taking the rug into the cleaners, and will have an AC service clean out the duct, but I want to make sure I cover my bases.

Lemon tree blues

aberrant — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 15:41:27 -0800

Calling gardening experts: what are these small white bugs in the soil of my lemon tree? I've noticed hundreds, if not thousands, of small white bugs in the soil of my potted dwarf Meyer. They don't look like the pictures of aphids that I've seen. More info: they don't appear to fly, they're multi-legged, and they're too small to photograph with my camera (probably 1/8" to 1/4" long, tops). They appear to be restricted to the soil (I see no infestation of any kind on the trunk, branches, or leaves). They crawl and burrow.

So - what are they, do they pose a risk to the plant, and how do I get rid of them?

It Feels Like They're on me Right Now

EatTheWeak — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 23:33:22 -0800

HELP!! What began as a minor infestation is now a siege! Red and black ants have all but infested our apartment. Please, please, please help us eradicate them. We live in an apartment in northern Texas and seem to have attracted the attention of some vicious local ants. We aren't the cleanest, but we don't live in squalor either.

Up until now, the problem was a mere annoyance. Tonight, we came home to find our carpet swarming with the little bastards. I couldn't cross the room without them crawling all over me and biting. We vaccumed them up as best we could, but already they're returning. I shudder to think what we'll wake up to tomorrow.

Please, if anyone can help us crush these invaders, we'd be most grateful. Doing a big clean first thing tomorrow, but I want to make our apartment as unfriendly to ants as possible. We've got a couple ideas as to where they're getting in - a couple holes at the edge of our carpet and an as yet undetermined spot in the closet.

Any help is most appreciated. We have to live another month in this place. Thank you some much for your time, MeFi.

I've pissed off the local yellowjacket population.

Salmonberry — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 19:32:55 -0800

Exposed a Yellowjacket nest in the backyard. How do I get rid of many pissed off wasps? I was moving a tarp that had been sitting in a corner of the yard. When I flipped it over wasps came flying out. The nest is small, not much bigger than an orange. I'd say about 100 wasps all told. I was able to get inside the house without getting stung.

The nest is now exposed to the elements, which I suppose might help, but what to do now? Most extermination guides say to use dust, but now that the nest is face up, dust will just blow off of it. My main concern is that they'll just try to settle in another part of the tarp.

Obviously I'm not going anywhere near it until the sun goes down, and even then I'm not a fan of wasp stings.

Will the fact that the nest is exposed mean that the colony will leave on it's own, or should I plan more aggressive measures? I can't leave it be, it's now right next to where we sit out on the patio. It's an us or them situation.

Killing spiders in awkward places

clarahamster — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:21:09 -0800

Does anyone have reliable techniques for killing spiders you find in awkward places? So, last night, I was about to go to sleep when I saw a huge spider in the space between my mattress and the wall. I tried to kill it with a book, but I missed. The spider scuttled off under my bed and I slept on the futon in the other room.

What's a fail-safe way to kill the little buggers without having to get too close to them, especially when they're in weird places like the narrow gap between a piece of furniture and the wall? I'd rather not spray poison all over my bedroom. Also, "live and let live" is, uh, not feasible.

BugFilter - Help me identify this caterpillar (Picture included)

Bio11 — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 09:53:16 -0800

BugFilter - Please, help me identify this caterpillar (Picture included) / My gf just found a couple of them when re-arranging the kitchen (closet, dark area, over wood surfaces) and we are since wondering if we must fear an invasion. Here are some infos :
- We are living in Montreal, Canada - 2nd floor, in a century old building.
- We often buy exotic fruits and vegetables.
- My gf also found a few dry leftover skins.
- The bug is mostly shiny black/red, its head is slightly more red and it's got a very thin hair all over. ...Ha, and defensive gear at the back too.
- We share our space with a few house centipedes but nothing annoying or unusual.
- The weather is generally hot and humid during summer down here, and we're wondering if it could trigger a massive spread of thoose.

Do we have to tremble? Are they harmless? Thanks.

Link, just in case:
Picture of the caterpillar (bug01.jpg - 34kb)

Sleeping with the enemy

-harlequin- — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 10:33:33 -0800

How do you eliminate fleas in a bed? I'm under the vague impression that flea-killing products have limited to no success against the eggs (is this correct?), which hatch 3 weeks later, so what is Standard Proceedure? Put the matress in a plastic bag for a month with some flea product inside and sleep on the couch? I have no experience with fleas. My reason for thinking there are fleas in the bed is that ever since my girlfriend let her cats sleep on the bed in the midst of a heatwave-induced flea epidemic last summer, I've periodically noticed insect bites in the mornings. Cats were banned from bedroom, but it's been months now and I still get bites. They're not going away on their own.

Any firsthand success stories?

Do flea bombs work for eggs in beds?

The bed has a duvet, any duvet-treatment tips? (I really wouldn't know where the fleas are, just that they're somewhere).

The Gopher Menace

Kafkaesque — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 10:23:12 -0800

Damn you gophers! Damn you straight to hell! How do I get rid of gophers without digging up my yard? I've just replanted my front yard and I have a gopher (or a gang of gopher ne'er-do-wells) eating my plants. A feather grass plant was totally sucked into the ground, like on a cartoon. I'd like to drive the little pests away without killing them. Maybe gently suggesting that my neighbors down the street would welcome some rodent visitors... I've seen some vibrating spike products that you bury in the ground. Do these work? Do I have to get all medieval on their gopher butts?

How do I get rid of a woodpecker?

dbelson — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:09:17 -0800

My house has been getting attacked by a fairly persistent woodpecker recently. The odd thing is that it appears to be pecking along the cable lines that run along the side of the house. Could the cable lines be giving off a hum that sounds like a food source is underneath? My house has been getting attacked by a fairly persistent woodpecker recently. We've got painted wood shingles, and the damn thing has pecked out some pretty deep holes (one through to the wall insulation), and others more surface.

I know that they often go after food sources, so I'll be investigating that with the Orkin Man. However, the odd thing is that it appears to be pecking along the cable lines that run along the side of the house. (Maybe the cables are giving off a hum that sounds like bugs are underneath?)

Has anyone ever experienced this, and do you have any suggestions about how to deal with it? (I've googled and found the usual "hang strips of foil" types of suggestions.) Who would I call to look at getting rid of the woodpecker?

We're up on the North Shore of Massachusetts, if it matters.

Thanks in advance...

ants! ants! What do I do?

Mayor Curley — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 16:38:12 -0800

Ant farmers must be excited because there is a bumper crop this year. We are currently infested and so is every other house on my street. We can't even leave the cat's dry food out!

How do you deal with an ant problem?

Effective, do-it-yourself, natural termite treatments..

cowmix — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 15:46:19 -0800

I have confirmed that my house has termites and I would like to treat them myself. Is this something I should screw around with or is this something where I should get a 'professional'?

Irreversible?

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 16:40:04 -0800

So the building has no history of mice infestation, as far as I know. The place has always been immaculate. Recently I have been living there on the generosity of a good friend. The past fortnight has been a bit difficult, and I reverted to being a slob. There are no tracks, no droppings: no sign of anything. But just now I saw a mouse taking a stroll down the hall. Have I fucked my friend's place? Even if I get rid of the little critters, will they always come back? I've already cleaned up the place completely, and sealed all food sources. Do I need to do the same for paper sources? I'm going to get traps tomorrow. But once they're out, are they out?

How do I get rid of a bees' nest in the top of a tree?

waldo — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:11:58 -0800

At the top of a 50' tree hanging over our house, there is a very large (perhaps 1' by 2') bees' nest. Enough bees live there that it's become quite a problem for us. It is impossible to climb anywhere close to where it is. How can we get it down? We live on 24 acres of forested mountain property -- solutions that might bother the neighbor or potentially injure bystanders are not likely to be a problem here. We're tired of getting stung, and we'd like to be able to sit out on our porch, now that it's spring. I've read up on the actual process of dealing with a nest, it's just reaching it that's the problem here.

Question number 14005

FunkyHelix — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 09:26:41 -0800

I'm having a problem with house flies. [mi]

Question number 11364

stefnet — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 14:37:20 -0800

We live (rent) on the second floor and attic of a house. The attic is finished in such a way so that there are crawlspaces on each side of the gable, which we use for storage. Something, presumably a squirrel or other manner of rodentia, has taken up residence either in the recesses of one of these crawlspaces or between the floors and scratches away annoyingly, most often at 5:30am. Is there anything we can do to drive the thing away* or should we just invest in a humane trap?

* We have a cat and two dogs live below, so things that emit animal-annoying frequencies are out of the question.

Question number 10935

brownpau — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 22:40:38 -0800

Can anyone recommend an effective cat-safe cockroach extermination measure? I have a roach infestation problem in my apartment. I've sprayed the nooks and crannies with Raid, plugged the cracks with Combat Gel in the cracks, left a dozen traps in a dozen corners, and mercilessly kill any roach I see, but their population is not dropping. I'm Googling and Froogling about for possibilities, but firsthand accounts would be great. Again, I need something cat-safe.