Go to What Happened When The CityBoy Moved to TheCountry
- Add a comment
- Go to Seven Plagues
Old houses have such a plethora of insects camped around them. The only
thing worse is pesticides. I know that ants can get through screens, but I think that flies lay eggs through screens -- I swear that must be how they get into the house sometimes....
posted by
WindTapper
on February 8, 2007 at 9:28 PM
| link to this | reply
I love my little house in the woods. We get the dormant wasps that seem to
materialize and fall to the floor. We come home from a project knowing we will have to clean up mouse poops...if they would use a litter box I'd let them stay! What I have not gotten used to are the black snakes that winter in the roof of our house like they have done ever since the house was built. They climb up the stone walls of the house and enter through an opening we have not been able to find. They slither into the loft where they shed their skins, and then go into the roof to sleep in the insulation. Max tells not to worry...that the snakes will stay up there, and not "fall" down into the house...
posted by
muser
on August 22, 2005 at 5:45 AM
| link to this | reply
A Stinging Rebuke!
Great post. Like the narrative voice, good description with small touches of humor. Sounds like you're making the adjustment to country life just fine. I once rented a house close by to a dairy farm and it seemed as if the flies liked hanging out with me. Most of them were cluttered and walking about on my ceiling. As a source of great personal amusement, I would take a wide mouth glass, put a little dish detergent in it, and fill it half full of water so that I would have a good top of suds. Next I would get a chair and stand on it. I would then very slowly bring my glass of subs up under a couple of flys walking about. Just as the glass got within a fraction of an inch, they would push off the ceiling, spoomf, right into the suds. I used to be amazed at how many flies I could collect this way.
posted by
dog1net
on July 22, 2005 at 9:10 PM
| link to this | reply
Watch out for Whitefaced Hornets. They are the steroid-injecting testosterone-freak jock-bully of the insect world. They are UBER-nasty. Sting for no good reason, and it is PPPPPPPPPPPAINFULLLL.
posted by
Mudman
on July 20, 2005 at 10:15 AM
| link to this | reply
Hola!
Oh the tragedy of bugs!! They are so small, yet so troubling at times! Most of them dont bother me, I mean they dont take up much space, but wasps scare the doo doo out of me!! Any suggestions for spiders? I have asked the spider in my apartment to please stop building webs all over my apartment, and ask him if he could keep them to a minimum, and you know what? I swear that spider flipped me off! hmmmf.
Go Easy,
J. King
posted by
J.King
on July 19, 2005 at 7:51 PM
| link to this | reply
The best thing I can recommend for mice is a kitten. It will become a mouser inside a week and totally clean it up for you.
posted by
tigerprincess
on July 19, 2005 at 12:29 PM
| link to this | reply
Bees are BAD...
It was because of a tiny little bee that my best friend was killed when we were 15...&...one of those silly little bees could take my husband in a heartbeat, maybe even one of our children, due to SEVERE bee alleregy...Get a shoe and squash them all !!! That's what i do...
posted by
SincerityAnna
on July 19, 2005 at 11:16 AM
| link to this | reply
ooooh how scary....I don't like insects or mice or anything
like that......great post though...how are you?
take care
posted by
_Symphony_
on July 19, 2005 at 11:13 AM
| link to this | reply
Wasps? oh god, that's horrible to cope with. There are natural wasp-traps out there you can get that have a very clever way of getting them gone. As for the mice, the best solution is a cat or two. We have two fierce hunters here, and never once seen a mouse, save as offerings on the doorstep, for which the cats are rewarded. And cats make great footwarmers in the winter... RYN: I've tried that. He just lets it lay, or throws things and screams at me.
posted by
telynor
on July 19, 2005 at 11:11 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe
Bugs? Hell, they don't eat much! NASTY things though........the ones that I hate are roaches.
posted by
TIMMYTALES
on July 19, 2005 at 10:22 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe Love
Excellent bit of writing!
posted by
Transcendental_Child
on July 19, 2005 at 9:53 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe...
You know I spun around before I stripped down to the underoos! Sounds like you could have used some super-powers yer self to rid the house of the wasps or a can of RAID, yer choice. I've been away to attend my sisters wedding...but was very amused to return and read yer saga. Down here in Georgia, we are plagued by cockroachs the size of a hubcap...aka palmetto bugs. Thank God, I wear a size 10 shoe which seems to be sufficent at stomping the little buggars out.
Fin
posted by
Finleigh
on July 19, 2005 at 8:00 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe...
LOL!!
Yeah, those old houses...you practically have to accept the idea that you are sharing your house with something unseen. Here at home, we have trouble with ladybugs and small insects that resemble ladybugs, (being totally orange and BITING seem to be the only difference).
And bats!!! My town has a great abundance of bats and many of them live in my attic. I'm sure they will get me before its all over with!!
Thanks for stopping by my blog, friend. BTW, my Dad has been gone for two-plus years now.
posted by
bwFrampton
on July 19, 2005 at 5:41 AM
| link to this | reply
Hi Joe_Love,
Older, big homes are wonderful, in that you have space to move. I miss the high ceilings and open spaces. With a small mobile home, seems like no matter what I do it shouts, organized clutter. I hope you are enjoying the country, even though the bees, mice and etc., are welcoming you! Ha-Ha
Oh, our cat Paws plays this game, he likes to push all four paws against the bedroom door, when we try to open it and actually scolds us for opening it, as he slides with the force of the door. He is a stinker, but we love him. Paws is the big yellow cat. I have posted his pic several times in Pets.
posted by
jacentaOld
on July 19, 2005 at 4:59 AM
| link to this | reply
Love
Funny thing, those old houses, I guess people didn't have anything even close to tape measures, or levels back then, so they probaby measured by using the size of themselves or something, heaven for bid if one day dad worked on putting the door in and the next day his thirteen-year-old son; right? I too live in a house that is over 100 years old, when we try to fix something, its quite a chore.
posted by
Tweeter65
on July 19, 2005 at 2:42 AM
| link to this | reply
Then don't move here!
I had a cockroach crawl down my back while I was asleep when I was about 10 years old. They are all over New Orleans. I hate them! Yuck!
posted by
bettyboop1967
on July 18, 2005 at 8:04 PM
| link to this | reply
Strat. .
I've never seen a cockroach in my life. I think I'll die if I do!!
posted by
Joe_Love
on July 18, 2005 at 7:52 PM
| link to this | reply
I know about the mice.
I am still fighting with them. Maybe I'll try some Jessica Simpson music over here. If that doesn't work I can always break out the Britney Spears music.
posted by
bettyboop1967
on July 18, 2005 at 7:45 PM
| link to this | reply
Funny stuff!
I live in a house that was built in 1842. Since it's South Carolina, we get all kinds of critters, some nasty, some downright pustular. You haven't lived until you've met the famous SC Palmetto bug, a roach that grows to be about the size of a Red Shouldered hawk.
The best pesticide, really, is the flaming Lysol Can. Nothing stops bugs like a flame thrower of lysol.
posted by
strat
on July 18, 2005 at 7:15 PM
| link to this | reply
JoeLLove
Hey dude we should just live together. I got the deer mice, the earwigs, the wasps, moths and hornets. And I got a basement and floors in every danged room. Great post
posted by
WileyJohn
on July 18, 2005 at 7:01 PM
| link to this | reply
I'm in the city, and rats seem to feel quite a fondness for my place. YUCK!
posted by
Holy_Grail
on July 18, 2005 at 5:09 PM
| link to this | reply
Ohhhh, Offbeat
Wasps are nasty, crusty little things. . , but mice. . , ohmy, they are absolutely DISGUSTING. I've been thinking about how I'm going to post an entry on it without being extremely lengthy. I could go on for a hundred pages about those nasty things!
posted by
Joe_Love
on July 18, 2005 at 4:49 PM
| link to this | reply
Joe
At least you have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Wasps are one thing, mice is another. Is there any way you can post a picture of the house?
posted by
Offy
on July 18, 2005 at 4:44 PM
| link to this | reply
Joe-Love
I laughed as I read this because I am packing to return after 7 weeks to my lake house in Texas...it will have been a paradise to the critters...the spiders and wasps and unidentifiable insects I share it with. I make them live in the window sills for the most part and I am terrified of wasps so they are not allowed at all. I have to very careful, however, to distinguish wasps and hornets and yellowjackets from the good guys...dirt daubers. The mice stay in the storage closets..I keep traps out for the roaches....Like Passion mentioned earlier...one has to enjoy the trade-offs....and clip coupons for cans of bug spray..
posted by
Krisles
on July 18, 2005 at 11:46 AM
| link to this | reply
Oh crap...Bumfock...I spelled it wrong the first time, but I DID get the joke, hehe.
posted by
Julia.
on July 18, 2005 at 11:33 AM
| link to this | reply
Oh Lordy--I cannot wait for the next installment!! I hate wasps, esp. inside my home. But now that I know you make things up (Bomfock--hahahaha...yeah, that's real, uh-huh)...I am not sure what to believe and what NOT to believe here!
posted by
Julia.
on July 18, 2005 at 11:32 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe,
Is that place name you moved to Legit? Haven't heard it before. Loved the image of the wasp doing the backstroke in your dishwater. I'm waiting for the mice.
posted by
word.smith
on July 18, 2005 at 9:16 AM
| link to this | reply
Oh, my....
Good luck with ALL that. Welcome to Blogit...loved your post. I'll be back!
posted by
UsualSuspect
on July 18, 2005 at 8:39 AM
| link to this | reply
Joe Love.....Another super post!
Ha! I don't like things with wings. And I sure as heck don't dig mice. The only problem I ever encountered while living in New York City were cockroaches and big waterbugs. My goodness. Cockroaches don't reside in the country or small cities. Do they? In New York, c-roaches come in with the newspaper, etc.
posted by
MedusaNextDoor
on July 18, 2005 at 7:16 AM
| link to this | reply
JoeLove...
Wasps and then mice? I'd be outta there so fast... LOL Great reading... thanks.
posted by
-blackcat
on July 18, 2005 at 6:46 AM
| link to this | reply
Fuck! I knew it!
I'm such a retard! At any rate, just "copy & paste" the URL.
Oh, and, sorry for the double post!
posted by
Mademoiselle
on July 18, 2005 at 6:28 AM
| link to this | reply
Take heart, Joe Love!
For
whatever the remaining plagues consisted of, they still could have been much worse. Now, hopefully, this link will work ... however, knowing me, it almost certainly will
not:
http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/8350/maleficent3bi.jpg
On the plus side, you wouldn't have had to worry about mice anymore (seeing as they are among her favorite foods). Of course, your dogs wouldn't have been safe either, as she is quite venomous.
P.S. Her name is Maleficent, btw.
posted by
Mademoiselle
on July 18, 2005 at 6:24 AM
| link to this | reply
I don't know how you lasted! I would have rung the pesticide people and anyone else that could get rid of them for me. Can't wait to read about the mice.
posted by
Ca88andra
on July 18, 2005 at 3:49 AM
| link to this | reply
I live out in the country too--
Only difference--I was born and raised there so I'm used to it. Spiders, snakes, lizards, wasps, crawdads, bumble bees, frogs, asps, but also hummingbirds, barn swallows, herons, amazing sunsets and sunrises....it's a good trade-off.
posted by
Passionflower
on July 17, 2005 at 9:30 PM
| link to this | reply
I love reading this blog, Joe_Love. For some reason it makes me think of
Babe, Pig in the City in reverse mode.
posted by
TAPS.
on July 17, 2005 at 8:41 PM
| link to this | reply
Joe
They are simply part of the enviroment, they were there FIRST! You moved into thier house.
posted by
Bel_
on July 17, 2005 at 8:36 PM
| link to this | reply
3m, thank you very much
Actually, I haven't had spiders yet (thank gawd!!) The mice was the worst one.
posted by
Joe_Love
on July 17, 2005 at 8:33 PM
| link to this | reply
as usual, i loved your post...... it has rapidly grown to be a favorite! i am fearful to ask if a plaque of spiders soon followed??? that is my constant plague (though had mice once and that was horrible....) i loved the way you said
I figure if I can hang in there for two more years, I will be able to graduate with a bachelors degree in Pesticidual Arts. very good stuff! i love it... :)
posted by
mmm-w
on July 17, 2005 at 8:16 PM
| link to this | reply