Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Team Redd vs. Mothra

For the last week or so, the battle has raged at our house. Somehow, we have become besieged by moths. Not the bigger, clothes-chewing ones that live in the closet. Our invaders are tiny, very easy to kill, and appear to have been centrally located in our kitchen. If the internet is to be believed (and when isn't it?), our visitors are, or are related to, India Meal Moths. These little guys set up shop in dried goods like rice and pasta. Before leaving for vacation, I thoroughly burninated (not literally) the cabinet I suspect was their base of operations. I found a pretty nasty bag of brown rice that may have been their HQ, and possibly even their mode of entry into our home. I've tossed quite a number of dried foods, just to be on the safe side, and have thoroughly Lysol-ed areas of the kitchen. Yet, a few stragglers keep popping up, and I get to spent time each night staging "search and destroy" sorties. They're also infrequently appearing in other parts of the house, presumably in search of new food sources.

My question is, does anyone know of any good, cheap ways to rid our home of these uninvited guests? I'm trying to limit the use of pesticides, especially since ground zero is our kitchen. I have a feeling they will eventually all die out if we keep them cut off from food. I would like to speed them along as much as possible, though.

(I'm also hoping for a decisive victory. Last summer's response to the wasp invasion was swift and brutal. They have not returned this year. I'm looking for similar results on the moth front.)

No comments:

Post a Comment