Pests........

[Jonny]

Jeremy Vine is talking about pests on radio 2 at the mo, I sent him an email recommending this place as somewhere to talk about them, but what pests do you have in the house and how do you deal with them. No husbands or wives please ..........

For me its daddy long legged spiders and the mess they make, they get hoovered up..........

[speckled wood]

In truth though what is a pest? To me spiders and their "mess" do not rate, if it is something that drastically lowers our quality of life or seriously risks our health that is a different matter as for "hoovering" up spiders I suggest you give that up and turn the vacuum cleaner off that little bit quicker and think of the power that you are saving .... every little bit helps, and after the other than to the insects that they catch the spiders that you are hoovering up are not really "pests".

[Earth Hart]

At the moment it's craneflies , one has landed on the screen as I write, the rain may have driven them in. Thankfully, the flies have all gone, apart from the ones stuck to the flypaper , which I'll take down now.

[honeybee]

I try not to look on anything as a pest because all the little creatures are important, we are the bigger pest. You'll get rats and roaches where people are dirty and leave food and rubbish everywhere. I did however have a problem with ants coming through the door this summer, they did start to annoy me. We need a new front door though as there's a big gap under it! We have mice too but that's my fault for leaving bird food lying around.

[Paul mabbott]

My granddaughters and Jeremy Vine don't count then?
I agree with some of the others, the odd spider or fly is not a pest until the latter is carrying bacteria over my food. Or wasps attack (which they don't unless provoked). I don't think we have what could really be called pests in this country not like Malaria-carrying mosquitos, dogs with rabies or blooming great jellyfish ....
Cheers, Paul

Originally Posted by Jonny

Jeremy Vine is talking about pests on radio 2 at the mo, I sent him an email recommending this place as somewhere to talk about them, but what pests do you have in the house and how do you deal with them. No husbands or wives please ..........
For me its daddy long legged spiders and the mess they make, they get hoovered up..........

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by speckled wood

In truth though what is a pest? To me spiders and their "mess" do not rate, if it is something that drastically lowers our quality of life or seriously risks our health that is a different matter as for "hoovering" up spiders I suggest you give that up and turn the vacuum cleaner off that little bit quicker and think of the power that you are saving .... every little bit helps, and after the other than to the insects that they catch the spiders that you are hoovering up are not really "pests".

Ha ha, if only you knew. Our hoover very rarely gets switched on, and when it does, the nasty long legged spiders go too, because to me, they are a pest. Would you have us to not use the hoover at all and live in a dust bath, with cobwebs all round the house.......
How many electrical goods do you use ? You certainly use a computer that is linked into an ISP, turn it off and think of the power you are saving............

[Owl-Light]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I try not to look on anything as a pest because all the little creatures are important, we are the bigger pest...

We seem to think alike alot of the time Megan.

I don't regard any particular species as a pest or vermin. Sure, creatures outside their natural environments can cause problems, especially in numbers, but frankly there is no worse pest or plague I can think of than mankind, reproducing at an alraming rate and invading the homes and habitats of every other species on the planet.

Where our home is concerned, uninvited visitors tend to be of the ocasional insect varierty. If they do no harm I don't mind sharing but for their own good the ones I find are encouraged to go home by means of a glass, a postcard and a gently flick outside the back door

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Jonny

Jeremy Vine is talking about pests on radio 2 at the mo, I sent him an email recommending this place as somewhere to talk about them, but what pests do you have in the house and how do you deal with them. No husbands or wives please ..........

For me its daddy long legged spiders and the mess they make, they get hoovered up..........

I listened to part of this and was rather dismayed at the response from the bat conservation trust guy who didn't seem to want to offer any real support or help or advice........ Let alone explain properly WHY bats are protected......

[Garden Carpet]

Originally Posted by Jonny

Ha ha, if only you knew. Our hoover very rarely gets switched on, and when it does, the nasty long legged spiders go too, because to me, they are a pest. Would you have us to not use the hoover at all and live in a dust bath, with cobwebs all round the house.......
..........

When were you in my house Jonny...

I hadnt realised my lazy housekeeping was ecological my problem is meeece!!!! I might tolerate the spiders etc but mice I can not cope with .. nor the plague of flies!

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Garden Carpet

When were you in my house Jonny...

I hadnt realised my lazy housekeeping was ecological my problem is meeece!!!! I might tolerate the spiders etc but mice I can not cope with .. nor the plague of flies!

Now that is funny, I can cope with flys. Mices are def a mennis (sp?), chew through everything and spread disease. I do have a humane trap for them, but never sure if releasing them in the woods is a good thing for them..........
As for lazy house keeping, nothing wrong with that, so long it doesn't get too bad, or starts to get you down. I know of people who hoover everyday and spray cleaners over everything, but are often complaining of colds and such like. I am very rarely ill, same as my family........

[Garden Carpet]

as long as the important things are kept clean.. kitchen and bathroom... what does it matter if there are four four inch long spiders on the bedroom walls!!!!

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I listened to part of this and was rather dismayed at the response from the bat conservation trust guy who didn't seem to want to offer any real support or help or advice........ Let alone explain properly WHY bats are protected......

Yes, he was disappointing wasn't he, but I think he was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't. Sounded like the guy had a real genuine problem with the bats and had taken advise, not nice that his wife had to move out because of the bats. I don't think the bat man said any explanation of why bats are protected.........

[aeshna5]

In the winter we regularly get Wood Mice in the house which we trap humanely + release in nearby park. Lots of Daddy-long-legs Spiders, Pholcus, which are not considered a pest here + control Fruit Flies which come in kitchen, the odd Silverfish seen at night which are tolerated, but biggest pest which I've now controlled is the Indian Meal Moth, which originally arrived in bird food + before you know it the larvae are contaminating all types of unsealed foodstuffs. I usually catch them + throw them outside, but squash the odd uncooperative one. At night we occasionally get a visit from a Yellow Slug which somehow gets under the back door.

[Fritillary]

hello everybody
For me it is the same... I dont know why some few spiders in a dark corner can be considered as a Pest.

It looks like all these tv programmes about cleaning are separating people from nature. At home some times there are some males spiders walking looking for Miss Spider and they are happy so do I. if some moth arrives, I put it out the same that whatever other insect.

For me what i could not have at home living free, because it could be antihygienic it will be flies, mice or rats. Generally if you have your home without food leaved by hours on the table and your floor clean (not staines of food) you are not going to have problems.

One day in the south of france, I was invaded by ants. I did not use any product and after some days, spiders were come into my student room. I watched what happened and the spiders put ants out. Later with the cold the spiders dissapeared as well

[Wild-Woman]

Head lice are a teachers pest. Especially when you pick them up yourself from little heads.
Our Robi comb goes a warp factor 9 this time of year. Yuch!!

[Garden Carpet]

Wow Fritillary.. way to go! What sort of spiders where they... do you know. My mother's house is invaded by ants every year.. The stuff she puts down for them is feeding them but not getting rid of them

Jaki