Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 26 August 2018

The mice wreak havoc in your, car, DIANE if I remember correctly! At least a spider won't chew through cables...

Heather: Yup, it's an ongoing battle of wills to keep the prairie field mice out of my garage, car, house, and pole barn. I won't use poisons (it causes too much suffering, and I don't want to hurt the hawks, owls, etc.), so I have to be creative. The mice here can have hantavirus, which can be fatal to humans, so even though I don't hate the mice, I really don't want the little critters around my patch.

Spiders eat the midgies, mosquitoes, moths, etc., so I'm happy to share the house with them unless they become too numerous.

Hoist man worked his magic - with pliers, solder and tape - and admitted that the offending cable should have had an extra tie to keep it away from moving parts!  So now the scooter is back on terra firma.  OH is happy to be mowing the front lawns again, and I am hoping that this time he really will be able to trim and strim the edges too!  I have been sorting birthday cards and checking which will need posting in September and October.  Another late-summer day, full of Birds and assorted Flutterbies.  The latter are spread among Buddleia (second crop of flowers), Chrysanthemums and Cosmos and the former are doing their best to avoid becoming lunch themselves for Mr Sparrowhawk!

Oh, Heather. I meant to tell you that Rosy was right about blocking the overflow valve in your bathtub. When I first got out of university and moved to Indianapolis, I had a tacky little apartment (I was poor as a church mouse back then). If I didn't block the overflow on my tub, I would get silverfish in the apartment -- ugly little fellas. You'll probably solve your spider problem if you do that. 

I remember Silverfish - had them in the cupboard behind the Rayburn when I was a child - also found them in all the cereals when we stayed in BiL's house when they were away; their eldest was home from uni and she was as disgusted as we were!

OG: Oh, dear. Not welcome in the cereal box. LOL Silverfish are one of Earth's creepier critters. They always made me shudder. LOL

Haven't seen silverfish since I was young, thank goodness! Have seen cockroaches in the old kitchens of old hospitals, when on night duty years ago, they scuttled away when the light was switched on! Will I sleep tonight or imagine creepy crawlies everywhere?!!!!

Me too, Heather!!!

Unknown said:

Pat, I will take the spiders over mice any time. LOL

Spiders are the good guys so please don't kill them. A cup or mug and a piece of card is all you need to trap them. Then just put them outside so they can carry on their good work of eating other troublesome insects.

Here's a pretty one known as a Wasp Spider. Heather and others of a squeamish disposition look away now. Don't worry they don't come indoors

I don't kill anything except maybe ants... I have bug vacuums for spiders and even flies and a humane trap for mice ( though I haven't had any mice in the house for years) not since my OH took the windows out of basement in preparation of cementing glass block in to replace the windows.

When we moved to Arizona we stayed with my sister and BiL who were still working. I noticed that all the drains in the house were covered with glasses or saucers. When I called and asked her why, she said "oh they're there to keep out the sewer roaches!" A year or so later when we were living in our own place, I saw this thing crawling across the patio. It was as big as my cat but flat to the ground. I called a neighbor and she told me that was a sewer roach. UGH!!!! The city usually treated the sewers once a year and put out notices to cover your drains.