This means trying to watch a TV programme but being intermittently distracted by a tiny moth flailing around in my line of vision. The moth eventually gets my full attention and I start stalking it around the room, trying to 'clap' it out of existence. But this over-eager form of attack only succeeds in helping the moth to escape from me as its sheer lightness is assisted in flight by the displacement of air as I bring my hands together.
It then disappears somewhere (where? how?)... and then magically reappears five minutes later... and the whole process starts again.
Killing the odd moth here and there isn't really worth it. The little bugger has probably already dumped it's mother load somewhere I cannot see, because it's the babies emerging from their eggs that cause the damage as they munch on their diet of pure new wool carpet and cashmere cardi.
Moths have apparently laid their eggs under my cupboards and sofa as I now have huge bald patches in my 100% wool berber carpet. Luckily, I can't see these particular damaged areas on a day-to-day basis, but a few weeks ago I moved some plastic carrier bags that had been sitting on the carpet in the bedroom as I gradually filled them with my cast-offs for the charity shop and found another bald patch, approx 6 ins diameter. Grr! I could see the shiny carpet backing glistening at me from across the room as I lay in bed. So I have had to disguise the damage by putting something else in its place. Then, last Friday, I moved a stack of old wooden cigar boxes in the back room and discovered another two inch bald stripe.
So what to do?It's evident that these little buggers like small warm spaces created by the large loops in my carpet, preferably with a wood or leather roof above their heads. Though the that doesn't explain the plastic bag incident. Replacing my carpets with wooden floorboards is not an option, and neither is man-made carpet.
Does anyone know of any successful anti-moth treatments that do not involve evil chemicals and/or nasty smells?
I do have some moth-related advice... I am told that you shouldn't put your clothes away unwashed as moths like those areas that contain smells and food, and this is why you find holes in the armpit areas and down the fronts where you hadn't noticed those teeny tiny soup splashes. But, if you do find that moths have attacked a favourite jumper, don't throw it away... put it back where you found it and let them munch on that as a sacrifice... after all, whilst they are happy eating that they aren't eating anything else... yet...!
Here are some pics of insects and wings and eggs:
Middle row: Kentish Town, Islington, De Beauvoir, Temple
Bottom row: Stamford Hill, Moorgate, my garden, The City
Come on Jane, this is as old as them hills and most won't be as far away.
ReplyDeleteForage for a rotten pot - potpourri.
Using the natural, dare I say it, antiseptic properties of lavender, cloves, rosemary, mint, thyme, cinnamon sticks, eucalyptus, peppercorns, lemon and orange peel.
Old socks or tights filled and periodically squeezed until the aroma is gone will keep the crawlers off your cashmere.
A few drops of an essential oil from the above on the underside of drawers and shelves.
Stick it in a plastic bag.
Spiders!
Not sure of the dependency rate, but I had a cat once who ate moths. They would crunch as he chewed.
Love the blog;)