Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Infestation, pests and other annoyances
It started with the fleas. Our indoor dog, who has only had a flea issue once before, has had a bad case of fleas over the past few weeks. It might have been for quiet a while now. She has been itching for months. But I just thought it was dry winter skin, and was treating it as such. That or hot spots. But then I was being driven crazy with all the scratching and licking. So I was doing some research online - and duh, run the flea comb over the dog, if you get black specks, you have a flea problem. And boy. Did we have a flea problem. Not only did I get black specks, I got about 30 fleas. Uh oh. So I started in with the treating of the fleas. I got some flea shampoo, and it worked. I was just concerned about using it - especially after reading the label. "Avoid skin contact... don't really even look at it too long..." Well, not that bad, but I changed my plan of action. We got this glue trap/light thing. It works great. And I started religiously combing the dog. And then just using the shampoo to kill the fleas that I combed off. I was trying to just drowned then in water down the sink. But they would just jump back up. We have some kind of SUPER flea. But now after several weeks, the fleas are still here, but under control. Now with only once a day combing, I'm only getting one or two fleas. And the trap... it has about 30.
So while we are in the midst of fighting the fleas, I noticed ants in the kitchen. There is no food sitting out. There really never is. And the dishes are clean. Why oh why are there ants marching behind my sink? So we got some ant traps.
That's two types of bug traps... so far.
Then began the seige of the fruit flies. We have one or two, every now and then, if the bananas get just a little too ripe. But this is crazy. There were about 20 or so flying around the trash can. This is gross. I felt like I was Oscar the Grouch and my kitchen was Sesame Street, without the fun song. So, do I get rid of the fruit to get rid of the fruit flies (a suggestion made by my husband). I need my bananas!! So back to the internet. I now have a fruit fly trap in the kitchen - a small glass with apple cider vinegar and soap. I guess the fruit flies love the vinegar and then get stuck in the soap. I have about 20, but now there are about 20 more flying around.
That's now THREE bug traps.
And mixed in with all these annoying bugs...
We had this random dog that followed me back up to the front porch after I got the mail one day. I shooed him away, saying go home. But he just smiled (a dog smile) and laid down on the porch. The girls thought it was great - almost like the zoo came to us. And so he stayed. We ate lunch, and he had settled in even more. I didn't want to resort to spraying him with water, but I had to walk MY dog. I sprayed and apologized. And he tucked his tail and went home. A nice dog. Just not MY dog.
Then the other night, I thought that the girls were both crying. Nope. It was two cats WAILING outside our bedroom window. Great. Children wake me up on enough nights... I don't need cats crying too. (sidenote: I am NOT a cat person)
And last week, as I was pulling into the garage, a chipmunk who was startled by the opening of the garage door, instead of running away, ran INTO the garage. Are you kidding me. I hopped out of the car and was screaming "no, no - come back this way" - like a chipmunk is going to understand what I am saying. So I went around to the back and made lots of noise, hoping it would run out. And then I saw him scurry towards the door. But I didn't see him go OUT the door. I was at the wrong angle for visual confirmation that he had left. So I hope that I don't get visual confirmation in the next few weeks that he didn't leave. Yuck.
And so, as we battle against the forces of nature, tonight, I found a dead fly in the fridge. Seriously? How did a fly get stuck in the fridge? Those things move fast. But there it was. At least he knew to just concede.
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