Infested!

Not my house

I've begun watching a new show on Animal Planet called Infested.  I started watching it because I feel like I’ve dealt with infestations for so long that I can’t imagine a life without them and I hoped that watching the show would make me feel not so alone.

Now, I have to admit, once I started watching this show I realized that my infestations aren’t quite as bad as theirs.  These people have been driven to their breaking point with infestations, much farther than I could ever go.

In the trailer I had in Asheville our ant problem was definitely out of control.  I am an OCD clean freak, but we even had to put our butter dish in a ziplock bag to keep them out.  You couldn’t leave a drink sitting for more than a few hours without a cup full of ants.  There were days that I remember standing at the kitchen counter and crying, because I was so tired of the ants.  I never thought I would have to deal with another infestation like that for the rest of my life.

Enter the home I live in now.

Asian Stink Bug, aka The Skunk Bug

First were the stink bugs.  An Asian Stink Bug is like having a bunch of skunks living in your house.  If they stink on something it is very hard to get rid of the smell.  Unfortunately we had no idea of this at first and it took me a month to find out that the smell that was stinking up my house was the bugs that we were crushing 20 to 30 times a day.  Our landlord never answered emails regarding these pests.

They should pay rent and electric

Next we saw the mice and cockroaches at the same time.  Our landlord didn’t even respond to the cockroaches, as if it’s a normal everyday thing!  But they kicked into high gear for the mice, so I thought that maybe this pest they would actually do something about.  It ended up with me sealing up the holes in the kitchen where they might be coming in at, laying some traps and they gave us poison to place in the crawlspace.

Well, apparently mice are very determined little guys.  They decided since they were cut off from their normal way they were going to find a new way in.  They ripped wholes into the duct work that heats our home and came in that way.  Now we have huge whole in that duct work, so we’re heating the crawl space.  Also, the mice have all but taken over this house when I go to bed.  I can hear them scuttling around in the kitchen while I’m in the bedroom.  I’ve caught them climbing out of the vent in my daughters room.  They made her stuffed animal basket their personal litter box.  My landlords response is that they can’t do anything about mice coming in from outside (isn’t that where all mice come from?).  But the plus is that they are letting us move.

I’ve had it with infestations.  I do not ever want to live somewhere that has one again.  And maybe what should scare me is that I keep getting new infestations.  God, I hope snakes, poisonous spiders or raccoons aren’t next.  I don’t care what my landlord or husband say at that point, I’m packing up my daughter and we’re going to live with family or friends then.

As I sit here watching tonight’s “Infested!” I hear a noise in the kitchen and know that a mouse is chewing somewhere in there.  Moments later I look over to the right and jump…  A Stink Bug is staring at me like it’s my new best friend.  Of course as I go to scoop the jerk up he does his stink thing and I dropped him.  

Now his stink is all over my couch.  Yay.

Note to readers – If you have an infestation you do not have to live with it.  If you are a renter then call your landlord and talk about getting an exterminator.  I will tell you from personal experience that they are the best way to go.  In the past I’ve found that they have stronger poisons and are much more efficient at dealing with the exact infestation that you have.  They don’t have to be super expensive, so call around and get quotes from different companies.  If you can afford it, then get the quarterly service.