Bulletin: I found the mouse

On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:50:08 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

wrote:

Ants are evil.

Not really - the earth would be deep in dead and decaying flesh, were
it not for ants, blow-flies, vultures, hyenas, etc.

LOL, I know. Obviously, I don't really think any animal is "evil". I
just have an aversion to ants. In fact, a couple of years ago I forced
myself to watch some nature programs about ants in the hope that, by
learning something about them, I would get over my purely emotional
reaction.

And it did help, for a while. I even had a few ant infestations in my
home - they would come in under the front door, march through the living
room and into the kitchen, to the back hall where the cat food dishes
were. There were thousands of them and they formed a two-way ant
"freeway". I started to study them with some degree of interest. The
tiny ants in California can be a nuisance, but they're quite harmless.
(Except that the cats won't eat food with ants all over it, so it can be
wasteful.)

Then I made the mistake of watching a stupid program on Animal Planet
(which has to conform to ratings like any network station, so they go
more for sensationalism than, say, a PBS nature program). This was all
about some aggressive, poisonous ants in Australia. The show featured
lots of closeups, and I swear, these things *looked* evil. One sting
could make a person sick, a whole bunch of stings could kill someone -
not unlike bee stings.

Anyway, the result of watching that was that I was more grossed out than
ever by them!

Last summer, I had problems with ants in my kitchen. I never saw enough
of them at a time to figure out where they were coming in, and didn't
want to spread ant poison around where I prepared my own food. I finally
found that they were getting into a cereal box that included dried fruit
in the mix. From that point on, I stored anything sweet in an airtight
container, and the ant visitation rate went down to two or three ants a
week, as opposed to a dozen or so per day.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

John F. Eldredge wrote:

Last summer, I had problems with ants in my kitchen. I never saw enough
of them at a time to figure out where they were coming in, and didn't
want to spread ant poison around where I prepared my own food. I finally
found that they were getting into a cereal box that included dried fruit
in the mix. From that point on, I stored anything sweet in an airtight
container, and the ant visitation rate went down to two or three ants a
week, as opposed to a dozen or so per day.

I've always found that to be the best way of all to get rid of ants -
bore them to death and they'll stop coming in.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

John F. Eldredge wrote:
On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:50:08 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

wrote:

Ants are evil.

Not really - the earth would be deep in dead and decaying flesh, were
it not for ants, blow-flies, vultures, hyenas, etc.

LOL, I know. Obviously, I don't really think any animal is "evil". I
just have an aversion to ants. In fact, a couple of years ago I forced
myself to watch some nature programs about ants in the hope that, by
learning something about them, I would get over my purely emotional
reaction.

And it did help, for a while. I even had a few ant infestations in my
home - they would come in under the front door, march through the living
room and into the kitchen, to the back hall where the cat food dishes
were. There were thousands of them and they formed a two-way ant
"freeway". I started to study them with some degree of interest. The
tiny ants in California can be a nuisance, but they're quite harmless.
(Except that the cats won't eat food with ants all over it, so it can be
wasteful.)

Then I made the mistake of watching a stupid program on Animal Planet
(which has to conform to ratings like any network station, so they go
more for sensationalism than, say, a PBS nature program). This was all
about some aggressive, poisonous ants in Australia. The show featured
lots of closeups, and I swear, these things *looked* evil. One sting
could make a person sick, a whole bunch of stings could kill someone -
not unlike bee stings.

Anyway, the result of watching that was that I was more grossed out than
ever by them!

Last summer, I had problems with ants in my kitchen. I never saw enough
of them at a time to figure out where they were coming in, and didn't
want to spread ant poison around where I prepared my own food. I finally
found that they were getting into a cereal box that included dried fruit
in the mix. From that point on, I stored anything sweet in an airtight
container, and the ant visitation rate went down to two or three ants a
week, as opposed to a dozen or so per day.

In cases like that, I've found that sprinkling cinnamon in the area
works well as a deterrent. (They evidently dislike it intensely, so go
away when they encounter it - and unlike poison, you don't have to deal
with piles of dead ants.)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

In cases like that, I've found that sprinkling cinnamon in the area
works well as a deterrent. (They evidently dislike it intensely, so go
away when they encounter it - and unlike poison, you don't have to deal
with piles of dead ants.)

Believe me, I tried the cinnamon. But my cats would step in it, making
little breaks in the cinnamon barrier, which the ants would happily
march through. sigh

The only thing that has been completely effective is obsessive cleanliness.
Not leaving any cat food out, not leaving any unwashed dishes around,
making sure all the surfaces are clean. The ants can't find anything to
eat and they leave.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

I seriously doubt whether there is any industrialized country in the
world that releases raw sewage into oceans or waterways of any sort!
(The reason plagues and epidemics are products of war is because there
is a breakdown in the infrastructure that provides such services.)

Los Angeles isn't far from it. They do primary (and maybe secondary?)
treatment before they pump it into the ocean, but the stuff they into the
sea is still extremely disgusting.

A few years back some very adventurous divers donned dry suits and dived
the outfall pipe. They filmed huge numbers of grossly mutated sea life in
the vicinity. I'm not at all surprised when SoCal beaches get closed for
dangerously high bacteria counts.

Dan

wrote in message
...
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:

I seriously doubt whether there is any industrialized country in the
world that releases raw sewage into oceans or waterways of any sort!

Maybe the bacteria that causes toxoplasmosis is hard to kill? I don't
know. But I'm going to look into it. You are right that raw sewage is not
dumped into SF Bay. At the same time, I have seen official messages from
local waste management saying not to flush kitty poops (in not so many
words ) down the toilet because of the aforementioned problem.

Will post when I know more...

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

De-cloaking for a bit---

Toxoplasmosis is not caused by a bacteria, it's caused by a parasite. It's
very tough in the cyst stage so even though bacteria should be killed off
by sewage treatment, Toxoplasma might not be.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0627004404.htm

HTH!

Bonnie

22brix wrote:

wrote in message

Maybe the bacteria that causes toxoplasmosis is hard to kill?

De-cloaking for a bit---

Toxoplasmosis is not caused by a bacteria, it's caused by a parasite. It's
very tough in the cyst stage so even though bacteria should be killed off
by sewage treatment, Toxoplasma might not be.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0627004404.htm

HTH!

Thank you, yes, that's helpful.

--
Joyce

To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

wrote:
snip

Then I made the mistake of watching a stupid program on Animal Planet
(which has to conform to ratings like any network station, so they go
more for sensationalism than, say, a PBS nature program). This was all
about some aggressive, poisonous ants in Australia. The show featured
lots of closeups, and I swear, these things *looked* evil. One sting
could make a person sick, a whole bunch of stings could kill someone -
not unlike bee stings.

Anyway, the result of watching that was that I was more grossed out
than ever by them!

Not ants - but I once listened to a very vivid radio progam about the
mites you get in furniture, especially bedding. Not bedbugs; they are
entirely harmless, but they lurk there in vast numbers apparently. I
found the idea so unpleasant that I put my pillows in the washing
machine. Not being new or sturdy, they came apart in the washer and not
only did I have to pick vast quantities of flecks of foam out of
everything, I had to buy new pillows.

I decided to give up on extreme hygiene and to leave the mites in peace
in the future.

Cheryl

On Jun 11, 4:43*pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


You would die of fright if you saw what I do without gloves ;-)



Ditto

The funny thing with me is that I can handle any unpleasantness caused
by a feline without batting an eyelid. Cat been sick? Pass me the
kitchen towel. Cat kicked dry turds out of the box (Sarsi does
sometimes)? Pass me the toilet roll? Litter box needs emptied? Pass me
the bin liner

If any Human wants to be sick or anything like that near me- I get out
of the way- that's ugh!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

"Lesley" wrote in message
...
On Jun 11, 4:43 pm, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


You would die of fright if you saw what I do without gloves ;-)



Ditto

The funny thing with me is that I can handle any unpleasantness caused
by a feline without batting an eyelid. Cat been sick? Pass me the
kitchen towel. Cat kicked dry turds out of the box (Sarsi does
sometimes)? Pass me the toilet roll? Litter box needs emptied? Pass me
the bin liner

If any Human wants to be sick or anything like that near me- I get out
of the way- that's ugh!
---------


I can deal with any sort of animal poo, pee or vomit but the moment a human
vomits in front of me, I can't do it. It makes me vomit along with them :-(