Sunday, September 30, 2007

On comforting German pragmatism.

"Yes, you are right. This is a maggot. They hatch from eggs of flying insect."

"I keep finding them one, two at a time crawling on the wall above the kitchen. I've been cleaning the kitchen with bleach and spraying the garbage can with Lysol regularly but they keep showing up. I have no idea where they are coming from."

"Ma'am, this building is very old. It is very old stone and how they glue the stones together has holes in it. You are going to have some insects. They lay their eggs outside and then they will smell the food and come in through the holes from the outside."

"Would it help to spray, maybe?"

"This is a problem. I think it's not good to spray in your kitchen. And since we don't know how they come in, it will not, I think, do much good."

"So how can I get rid of them?"

"Just how you are. When you see one, pick it off. You cannot, I think, get rid of all of them. But soon, it is winter. You will have less insects then."

"And what about in summer?"

"Oh, more in summer. But less in winter."

2 comments:

Bette said...

Hee! Did the guy have to take the cigarette out of his mouth to tell you that spraying the kitchen wouldn't be good for you? Or is it only me who gets lessons on healthy living from smoking Germans?

CaliValleyGirl said...

I think I know what those are: moth larve, the annoying tiny moths that get into your flour and other foodstuffs. I had a full on infestation once while living in Germany: There were larve climbing on the ceiling, it was so gross. And I killed everyone I saw. If you think this is a possibility, the best way to get rid of them (and I did) it to buy the hormone glue traps: it attracts the male with the smell, and they fly into it, and stick on it...and then there can be no mating. You can get them at most German drug stores like Schlecker or DM.