Thursday, September 5, 2013

the war on pantry moths continues

For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting an update on the pantry moth infestation, today is your lucky day.

On Sunday, we declared war against the pantry moths.
Emptied cabinets, vacuumed up larvae (GROSS), wiped with vinegar, placed bay leaves, etc...
The next day, we saw a couple more moths. While disappointing, we figured it'd take a couple days of killing the ones that already existed before we saw a major victory.

Alas!! Over the last few days, we have still seen moths.

I cannot describe to you the murderous anger that wells up within me each time I see one. I run for the fly swatter and violently 'swat' it to death.

And then... later in the day, I'll see another, as if they're rubbing it in my face that we can't get rid of it - nah nah nah boo boo.

Our super high quality cabinets have cracks in the corners that lead to cracks in the wall, so we thought perhaps they have laid their nasty little baby moth larvae in there. Addie and I ventured to the local hardware store to get a bottle of 'cracks and crevasses' bug spray... the kind with the long, skinny stick on the end that will, well, get in the cracks and crevasses.  They only had the kind intended for cockroaches, but I figured what will kill a cockroach will certainly kill a pantry moth. The hardware store owner also suggested a pantry moth trap. $6.95? Bargain. Can't put a price on freedom, folks!

So, I put the trap in the cabinet in the afternoon, but waited for Ben to come home and spray. Something about that cockroach spray bottle... I pictured reaching it into the cracks of the wall and a million little moths flying out at me. Saying I don't like bugs is the understatement of the year. (If you know me well, you are laughing.) Needless to say, I waited for Ben on the spray. Well, we ate dinner, put Addie to bed, hung out & watched an episode of the West Wing or 2 and then I remembered I wanted him to spray!

As we walked into the kitchen to find 5 or 6 of these suckers on the ceiling and in the infested cabinet! Ugh. Nasty, persistent little buggers!
I nicely asked begged the hubs to spray said cabinet, and surrounding counter space, and walls, and windows. At some point, he told me enough was enough. He doused the area & then we went to bed.

No sign of any moths this morning, but we're going to wait a couple days to put some food in and see what happens. Meanwhile, I am washing every single dish and container we own in the dishwasher in case there are camouflaged moth larvae implanted in them.

The war is not yet over.