Swat Em, Squash Em, Spray Em or Let Em Go
By Brian
@wolfie34 (26770)
United Kingdom
August 18, 2009 12:51pm CST
Summer Season also means Bug Season, the worst season for getting attacked, plagued or swarmed by those horrid bugs, you know the ones I mean, flies, wasps, mosquitoes, moths and other nasty flying insects that we all love to hate!
But how do you deal with bugs, do you swat them? do you squash them with a satisfying squelch, do you spray them with insect killer (don't you just hate the spray and trying not to breath it in!) or are you saintly and let them go?
Or do your pets see to any unwanted bugs that just happen to fly in? Seeing them as tasty titbits or things to play with until they catch them and either eat them or just kill them?
Do you enjoy killing bugs, do you see it as a sport, or a chore or something to pass the time away?
Have you ever broken anything whilst chasing a bug around the room trying to kill it?
Do you win the war against the bugs or do you find they are just put on the earth to irritate and annoy you?
Are you choosy about what bug you kill? Are some bugs you are happy to let go, or even capture and free outside?
I think the only bugs that I will save and rescue are bees and spiders, the rest well they are on Wolfie's hit list.
I hate using the spray as I find the smell lingers and sometimes it's not always affective especially against mosquitoes and moths who seem to be immune to the spray for some reason.
And don't moths make a horrid mess when they are squashed, ewwwwwwww!
So How do you Prepare for bug season?
7 people like this
18 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
18 Aug 09
Hi wolfie, here they start before summer and carry on through to December usually, with a different breed each month adding to the list. I think next month the smelly bugs are due which are the most annoying things ever, green or brown flying things which come in large amounts every evening and buzz like the loudest flies. One tiny squat with the sqatter though and they are history.
The mossies are my downfall as alergic and we have plenty of them and apparently I'm a mosquitoes fantasy woman. I've worked out a system of using mosquito milk on my body from 7pm which is the only thing that works for me, and my two pet spiders do a stirling job of catching many, along with flying ants. We have many types of spiders and some bite so apart from my pet variety, which are really well housed trained, the rest go over the wall, or under a shoe. Wasps and flies are a total nuisance and much harder to get rid of, and Greek flies will keep landing on the same thing, they come into their own in October. The menace this summer has been the builder bees which keep trying to build mud nests everwhere until they get bigger every day and filled with horrid offspring, the builder bees though show a unique intelligence in the insect world.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 09
Fortunately our spiders don't bite but they do have a good habit of catching the flies and mosquitoes so they are more than welcome in my house, rent-free! Not sure I like the bugs where you are, flying ants, eewwwwwww nasty, glad we don't have a bee problem. I guess our bugs are not as bad as your bugs by the sound of it!
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 09
Oh I'd forgotten about those critters the woodlice, and I've asked the bugs if they want a busmans holiday to you and they've said no they'd rather pester the hell of out of poor Wolfie! And no I don't want your bugs either LOL! Maybe I should have been a pest exterminator, good job that! But with my allergy to wasps I don't think I would be employed and besides I'm rather squeamish when it comes to cockroaches and rats
1 person likes this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
18 Aug 09
Oh yes, our bugs are certainly worse than your bugs, more off them and bigger. One thing we don't get though is those hideous wood lice which you have, well not personally of course but you know what I mean. And our builder bees aren't really bees, they look more like a giant wasp but once they've found a place to deposit their bit of red mud they keep zooming right back to the same place with some more lovely mud. We caught one the other week leaving wet mud on the back of a book on the bookcase and had to keep the mosquito blinds down during the day to confuse it enough so it wouldn't come back. You never know the nest is there until you wonder where the irritating buzz is suddenly coming from and it's the bugs mutating inside. Maybe our bugs would like to go a holiday exchange with your bugs, but I'm not offering up my two pet spiders to anyone.
1 person likes this
@ChrysanTflower (1607)
• Indonesia
19 Aug 09
I feel afraid with bugs, except mosquitoes. I swat them or spray them. I always spray my room in the evening before dinner, so after dinner the smell not strong and I can sleep without mosquitoes or any bug. They will be swept away the next morning. I let go other bugs by flush them or just ignore them. If it's cockroach or other big flying insects, I will call my father or brother to wipe it away,,hehehe, I feel guilty if I'm the one who kill it, so I give that job to my father or brother..
1 person likes this
@ChrysanTflower (1607)
• Indonesia
20 Aug 09
@dj : nice logic.. actually it's already been a habit in my family.. Try it and tell me it's effective or not
1 person likes this
@djshammy (2)
•
19 Aug 09
any insect over i size pf o golf ball i belive you should kill (1 just becuse it would b just plain nast to squish something that big)but othere insects that are small it would b ook to squish becuse they reproduce by the millions but deffently a good idea about spraying your room b4 dinner im going to try tthat
1 person likes this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
12 Sep 09
I didn't think England had flies, beetles, spiders, insects etc. I remember when we first came to Australia we were terrified of all the beetles and insects - and the cane toads - and the ginormous Huntsman (Tarantula family) spiders! I have no idea why, but the insect and spider population seems to have decreased dramatically over the years, and we see very few now in comparison with then.
We now have security screens on all windows and doors, so we get very few creatures inside the house. An occasional fly might get in if a door is left open while we get the mail or talk to some at the door. Then I use the fly swat.
Paper wasps have always been a menace. My hubby was stung many, many times when we had a cane farm. They hurt for a while but they didn't bother him to any great extent. Now we get a few in the garden and I always keep an eye out for them, because if he gets stung now he gets a big reaction to them which lasts for a number of days. We spot their nest and mark where it is. Then at dusk we spray them with petrol. It burns their wings off and kills them quickly.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
12 Sep 09
Believe we do have them my friend, millions of them and most are a pest and a menace. I have started to use incense burners in my room in hope that will stop the damn mosquitoes, I will try anything, the guy said lemongrass is supposed to repel them, well lets hope! I am highly allergic to wasps and moths are a nuisance they are attracted to the light, so I can't have my windows open at night even when it's hot. Fortunately most of our bugs are NOT poisonous but they are still a pest! That is another reason why I like the winter less bugs around.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
12 Sep 09
I believe you, Wolfie, but on my trips to England to stay with my brother at Warsash (near Southampton) I never saw any, and when they visited us (especially when we were still on the farm)they had horrors about the insect life here. They were scared of every little thing that flew, jumped or just sat. Maybe over there they are more prevalent in the city?
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
21 Sep 09
hi wolfie where I am now about the only bug I see are the damned flies that always get in and buzz around., I run around swatting with a'rolled up newspaper and when i do smack one I am like Gilbert the cat and his spider killing I am so happy. also sometimes spider come in and again I smackthem down. lovely feelings as these Californis spiders bite are nasty and painful not poisonous exactly
but definitely painful.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
22 Sep 09
I count myself lucky as our spiders are not venomous and don't bite and so they are friendly and welcome in my house, I would never kill a spider or a bee for that matter, however if we had poisonous spiders then it would be a different matter entirely. I keep trying to train the spiders to eat the mosquitoes but they failed dismally :0(
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
18 Aug 09
Mosquitoes get squashed. Spiders get released if possible. Ants get sprayed. We don't deal with other bugs all that often!
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
19 Aug 09
I love spiders, and just leave them to do their thing. Like you, I hate flies and mozzies - but the sprays are disgusting. If we're outside in the evenings we have citronella candles or incense - but nothing really works when the damn things are determined to have their pint of blood! I'm sure you're right, and insects have become immune to anything we can spray at them. Last year we had a lot of sugar ants in the house, which was really annoying - there were little trails of them all over the place, even though there was no visible food.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
19 Aug 09
Sugar ants? Ewww nasty, yes I have tried the citron candles but the mossies seem to like them, last night I was kept awake by this damn mossie, everytime I put the light on it would hide and there was me standing around in my underwear waiting for it to show it's face, I would then go back to bed and guess what out it would come again making that horrid noise! No wonder I feel so damn tired today!
@peavey (16936)
• United States
19 Aug 09
Mosquitoes and houseflies get squashed, but everything else I just ignore unless they're really in the wrong place (like a spider in my shoes!). I don't mind bugs that much because they're part of the natural world. I don't care for them on me, though!
@nannacroc (4049)
•
18 Aug 09
That's Mr Crocs department. He can do what he likes with the bugs, I don't like him to kill spiders even though I'm scared of them and I know he tries to help poorly bees. The only exception is ants, all ants must die if they enter my house.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 09
Spiders are the only bug that can stay in my home rent free, providing of course they catch the flies and mossies! Ants eewwwww I will kill them out and inside, nasty things. I have to becareful about not shutting my windows otherwise I get plagued with moths.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34s_sis (93)
• Canada
18 Aug 09
I use Bounce fabric softener sheets. Tear one in half and insert it in your sock or pant leg, right and left. Then take another one, tear it in half also, insert one in the back of your shirt collar and one in the back of your waist. No joke! I never get bitten by mosquitoes anymore which is great since I am allergic to them. Try it! You'll be surprised how well this works.
1 person likes this
@katsalot1 (1618)
•
31 Aug 09
The only insects and creepycrawlies I would kill are mosquitoes, ants and wasps. I don't even kill them unless I have to. I am allergic to wasps (anaphylaxis), so when we get wasp nests in the loft they have to be killed, but the nests at the bottom of the garden we leave, and I just don't go poking about near them! Everything else gets saved and released, or ignored if possible.
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
31 Aug 09
I am highly allergic to wasps, and I have to carry an injector pen around with me, so I wage a war against them, what I can't figure out is why they were created, no one likes them, wants them, needs them, so what is the importance of the wasp other than to sting and annoy the hell out of people and worst still have the ability to kill people?
1 person likes this
@katsalot1 (1618)
•
31 Aug 09
I have to carry an Epipen too. Wasps do an awful lot of good. They eat a lot of insects, and themselves are eaten by a lot of creatures. Apparently, many years ago, if people found a hornet's nest they would take it home and hang it nearby to cut down on the insect population! I don't know if that is true.
1 person likes this
@OpinionatedLady (5965)
• United States
19 Aug 09
The blue Listerine helps keep them at bay. We spray our grass with it before folks come over and it helps cut them down.
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
11 Sep 09
I try to leave them alone whenever possible. I will kill mosquitoes no matter where they are, but other bugs I will try to leave alone if they are outside. Inside, though, I will kill bees, spiders and wasps, because my little one is allergic to them. Moths and other insects, though, I will try to capture and set free outside.
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
11 Sep 09
Aaaah poor spiders and bees, they are two creatures I love and encourage, I could never kill them, they are very useful and a good friend to humans. Moths have no use and are so irritating so I kill them without a second thought. Strange how we value bugs in different ways. Thank you.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22085)
• United States
12 Sep 09
Actually, it isn't a value thing with me, because I try not to kill anything that I don't have to kill. I know that bees and spiders are a valuable part of our world, and I used to try to get them out of the house without injuring them. However, I just won't take the chance of them getting near my little one, so it is a choice that is easy for me to make.
@preema723 (117)
• United States
18 Aug 09
I hate bugs!!! We have mosquitos here throughout the spring and summer - and for some reason they love to bite me! It is awful! I find that I avoid hanging around outside at night for that very reason! They eat me alive! I have used the sprays before when I absolutely have to, but it makes me feel gross and they smell. It is very humid in the summer here, and we get little baby spiders that come out - especially after alot of rain. They are very tiny and I find that sucking them up wtih the vacuum is the best for that. The bigger spiders and other creepy crawlies I leave for the hubby to tend to. The only bug's life that I will spare is that of a ladybug - my grandma loved them and she has been gone years now, but every time i see one, I think of her.
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
18 Aug 09
Ladybirds are the gardeners friend, as they eat the aphids that attack the crops! You don't see many of them around sadly and that is one beetle that I will happily rescue. Mosquitoes eat me alive too and the noise they make, just from a tiny insect! They seem to be immune to repellent and sprays! And the bites they give you, I come out in lumps, nasty lumps they seem to like me and none of the family, grrrrrr!
@rhoday (152)
• United States
19 Aug 09
We seemed to have had a break and now all of a sudden here we have these stupid flies again. There is like a million of them. I think it's the heat. Some night's you can see those big huge flying roaches going around and when they land I scream and run, they are huge. I can't stand those things.
1 person likes this
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
19 Aug 09
I am so ashamed! I once used to be an infamous bug killer! Squash em! Step on em! Splat em, spray em not forgetting magnifying glass them in the sunshine!!! Well, those days are over now. I really don't like spiders and whenever I see one in my flat I try to catch it in a glass or something and then I release it outside, they really do give me the creeps though! I don't mind other kinds of bugs. Well, I look at them as having some kind of duty to perform I suppose! The spiders rid the place of flies and I'm sure that all other kinds of bugs are here for a reason. Anyway, I'm sure they are saying a very tiny 'thank you' once I have released them back outside! Andrew
@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
19 Aug 09
I do not like bugs at all. If they are anywhere near me, I swat at them, squash them if possible, and just try to get them away from me. The mosy annoying thing about bugs to me it when I am trying to relax and they are buzzing in my ears or landing on my body. I have personally never broken anything trying to kill a bug, but my 8 year old once broke a window hitting a fly. He was only about 4 or 5 at the time, and he didn't even hit the window hard. It just happened that the window was old and he hit it in just the right place.
In my house, the general rule is, if the bugs are outside, they can live, when they come into the house, they better hope that they can outfly, outrun, or hide from us or they will not survive.
Walking into my house, a person would probably notice the fly strips on my windows that I have hung to catch those flying pests. I do what I can to keep them out of my house because, well, they simply annoy me.
@shalli17here (627)
• Indonesia
19 Aug 09
uffffffffff...you definitely right wolfie! summer is a bug season! my worst enemy is mosquito! can't stand them to bite me, plus there are so many of them this summer uff..
i spray them with the insect killer, i sometimes hit them and squeeze it lol..no i'm not letting them go! i don't enjoy killing bugs though, but i have to or else they will bite me uff..hahah no it's not a sport! never broke anything, but fell them off yes lol..i did win sometimes, but but noooooo they always came back even just one little mosquitoe at night when i was asleep, though i've tried to killed them with the spray few times! arghhhh..
i couldn't sleep at night if i found out there's one mosquitoe in my room! i have to killed it before i back to sleep lol..uhhuh mosquitoe is the most enemy that i would killed it!
what is moths? lol..
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
19 Aug 09
Moths are nocturnal creatures which are like butterflies but certainly not as beautiful or precious as a butterfly, they are reknown for eating clothes and they are ugly things and are attracted to light. I am like you if I hear a buzzing in my room I can't sleep, I have to find that damn mossie otherwise he'll have me for supper and boy do I come up in nasty lumps when they have bitten me! The damn things are clever because as soon as the light goes on they hide, when the light goes out they are out again!
@g_vickie84 (576)
• Belgium
19 Aug 09
I do not like killing bugs even if they are irritating me. I try to keep them out of my house as much as possible. But if they come inside somehow then I have my ways of throwing them out of my house. For spiders it is easy as they are normally very less in number so you can just pick them up and leave them in the garden outside. But for flies and moths I keep a kind of net in which I can catch them. After that I release them in the garden. May seem funny idea but it works and I have to do it as I cannot kill them.
