It is no secret that I am bad OCD. Like, I could probably stand to have just a bit of professional counseling regarding my OCD tendencies. Thankfully, I am not OCD in the manner of counting my steps or having to check a door ten times to see if it’s closed. Nothing like that. I am a germaphobe/clean-freak to the -enth degree.
Having said that, you can imagine the hell I have been living in when I share this secret with you: I have been battling ants in our house for the past month. And then- Fleas came home to roost last week. Seriously, I have actually considered calling my Dr. and asking for an anti-anxiety pill to help me deal. That is how stressed out this has made me.
But, I am quite proud to say I am no longer in need of psychotropic means to calm my nerves. Nope! I did it all by myself!! Me, Google, and garlic became the bug exterminating trifecta.
Let’s take a trip back in time, say- oh… four weeks ago, shall we?
Tommy left an empty Taco Bell drink cup on the counter, over night, one night. He will tell you I should have taken it out, I will tell you he should have, but really who is right and who is wrong is a moot point here. That night, the ants decided to move into Casa Summers. We woke up to a kitchen full of ants. After Tommy destroyed all that he could, I called our Orkin guy and asked them to get out here pronto for an extra treatment. He came the next day. In the mean time, I was killing the little buggers every few minutes. However, they were contained in the kitchen, so my sanity remained intact as long as I avoided the kitchen.
Orkin dude came and did his thing. I breathed easier, just knowing the nightmare was coming to a quick ending.
Only, it wasn’t.
Oh no, it was FAR from being over. No, no… those little buggers decided to come back. Within days they were in the kitchen again. But that wasn’t enough- NOOOOOOOO- they moved to the living room via the front door. Soon they were hanging out in the entry way. Then, thye wandered over to the couch. And the computer by the tv. THEN, oh this is where it gets good, then they came into MY ROOM. Like, as in, I found one on my arm IN MY BED.
Snap.
Did you hear that? That was my sanity.
We bought chemicals. Sprayed down everything. Nothing worked. I went to the internet. It suggested black pepper, cinnamon, and mint. I made up a black pepper/cinnamon cocktail and sprinkled it EVERYWHERE around the house and let it set overnight before I vacuumed it up. I washed down all the doors and windows with the mint.
Shaken, not stirred.
Tommy caulked and sealed all the doors, windows, and any other cracks he could find. We bought the
Riddex bug eliminator thing (which, as far as I can see is a big waste of moolah).
After all of that, we managed to cut the number down. And we got them to stay in the kitchen/ front door area. No more on the couch or bed. But still. They were here. I would kill at least thirty or more a day. And, with every little squishy bug a little piece of me died inside.
Fast forward three weeks. Last week we had the flood. It wasn’t enough to wonder if all of our things were going to be washed away, was it? Oh no. Because three days later, I watched as my sweet Teddy started scratching his hiney. Like, really tearing his butt up. I went to investigate the cause for all the terror. And do you know what I found?? Yep. That’s right. Fleas.
Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery.
In all the years I have had pets I have never had fleas get on them. I don’t like to use those chemicals you put on their necks because a) I don’t like to put poisons on my babies necks every month, b) Teddy has very sensitive skin, and c) Macavity is a diabetic. I don’t like putting anything like that on him. We have never had fleas, but we also bathe them regularly, and keep the yard clean. That was all before the flood.
All I can figure is the fleas were seeking drier places, and moved to the one dry yard on the block: Our backyard. My poor, sweet babies. Of course, this happened on Sunday. When there are no vets open, anywhere. I know Frontline will work in one dose, usually within a few hours, but there was no where I could get any. Tommy and I went and got some flea stuff from the store and went on full attack.
Flea bath, yard spray, house spray, flea collar and drops.
That did NOTHING.
By Monday morning, my babies were all going crazy from scratching. Tommy had to work and go to school that day and night, so he wouldn’t be able to go to the vet until Tuesday. There was NO way I was going to watch my babies suffer for another day. I went to my favorite internet search tool: Google. On there, it suggested I use garlic. I gave each of the pets five garlic tablets (you only need to give them one each day to prevent fleas, but I knew we needed to give them a massive dose for a few days to make it work quickly). I knew it would work, but from what I read it could take weeks. WEEKS. There was no way I could wait that long. That is when I had my “Ding!” moment.
Why not bathe them in garlic? I boiled up a pot of garlic tea (five heads of chopped garlic and water), and put it in a spray bottle. Spritzed them all down, and rubbed it real well. I, then, went into the back yard and sprayed the yard down really well, and all around the house and door in the back just to be safe.
The next day- the fleas were gone!! No itchy, scratchy babies. Woot for me! Buuuuuutttt….. something better happened. There were no ants in the kitchen!! Holy crap! They were gone!!!
I, of course, immediately boiled up another pot of garlic tea, and went to spraying the front of the house, and around all the doors and windows, inside and out. And, what do you know? The ants are gone!!!! Happy dance in progress!
I have repeated the garlic twice now, and will probably do it at least one more time. I just want to make darn sure they all send the message to their little buggy buddies that my house is no longer a haven for their buggy ways. But, so far, so good. And, I will admit that this makes your house smell like a pizzeria for a few hours. However, I happen to like that smell so it doesn’t bother me. And, it fades totally within an hour or so.
Garlic. Whodathunkit? If you have this problem, give it a try. I sprayed the entire outside walls, door, windows, and all the cracks. All round the perimeter of the house where the ground meets the house. Basically, I washed the outside of the house in garlic. I also thoroughly covered the garden and yard in it. I also came inside and sprayed down the doors, windows, and baseboards in the kitchen and living room. Oh yeah, and my furbabies got a good soaking the first night. They weren’t big fans of it, but it stopped the itching.
To maintain, they will get a garlic pill every day. And I will probably spray down everything once a month. (All told, in one week, I have garlicked the house three times now, and will do it at least once more) Tommy and I also plan on planting garlic in the garden in front of the house and in the back yard garden as well. It turns out that garlic is actually a very pretty flower, as well. Who knew?
Garlic is a great little plant. It is very effective against bugs, is cheap, and is safe for the environment. I have no guilt about putting this on my puppies or on the ground. And, I enjoy the smell, so for me it’s a bonus.
Of course psychotropic drugs would have been more fun, but you can’t win them all, right?
Funny. Quirky. Vegetarian. Mommy. Wife. OCD (Is that one word or three???). Photographer-ish. Hyper-active. Creative. Silly.
RSS - Posts
