Living naturally is all about creating an environment low in toxins that is beneficial to all living organisms - plants, animals and micro-organisms. However, there are some living organisms that nobody in their right mind really wants to have thriving and multiplying in their home because of the damage they do, the mess they create and the unwanted micro-organisms (namely harmful bacteria and viruses) they bring into your home. Mice, rats, ants, flies, mosquitoes and other creepy crawly vermin are definitely not wanted in the home.
For many people, the gut reaction to finding pests in the house is to start throwing poison around. However, this has its own hazards, the chief one being that it isn't just the unwanted little brute that gets poisoned - so do you, your family and your pets. So how do you deal with vermin in an environmentally conscious way that doesn't involve making peace and deciding to live in harmony with all the creatures that choose to share your home with you (the PC way of describing living in squalor in a rat-infested dump).
Mice: The best methods for dealing with these are very, very old and very natural. The first method is the deadfall (spring-loaded) trap that kills mice quickly and humanely. Forget the cartoons of baiting these with cheese: bread crusts, peanut butter and chocolate (if you can bear to part with chocolate for use in a mousetrap) are more attractive to mice. Put the traps where you have seen mouse droppings or other signs of mousey damage and check them daily - mice that have been dead a while aren't pleasant. Dead mice go into the compost heap. To prevent people getting fingers or toes in the trap, put up a sign on the cupboard door or above the trap warning people. Mice can't read!
The second method is to introduce a biological control on mice into the home, commonly known as a cat. Even if your cat is a hopeless mouser, even the smell of cat puts many mice off. A good mouser is an efficient means of rodent control - there's a story about a commercial cropping farm being audited by the health inspectors and being asked about steps in place to control rodents. The farmer said they had an "automatic self-propelled rodent control system". Right on cue, the cat walks through the office and the health inspector cracks up laughing as the penny drops - and ticks the box.
Rats: Not all cats are up to dealing with rats, although a good proportion are. Super-sized spring-loaded traps for killing rats are also available, but they are pretty nerve-wracking things. If a mouse-trap springs shut on your toe or finger, all you get is a nasty bruise. If a rat trap springs shut on your appendages, you break bones. Purchase or borrow a dog, preferably a terrier of some description, if rats are a real problem. Don't forget that you are a biological control for rats and that a whack with a poker or a cricket bat kills rats humanely and efficiently. If you're not up to cornering and killing a rat yourself, wheedle a knight in shining armour or a closet caveman into doing it. Watch you don't get bitten - cornered rats fight like cornered rats. Even if you don't manage to kill the rat, they are clever enough to realize that you and your home is a dangerous place to be and they will go elsewhere. A serious infestation of rats may call for the local pest control person and some poison, as rats are very nasty disease carriers, even if they don't carry plague these days; are at least as intelligent as dogs; can climb and swim; eat anything, including meat (yes, the horror stories about swarms of starving rats eating humans are based on truth); and they can chew through wood, wire and plastic. However, domesticated rats make nice pets, as they can be housetrained and taught to do tricks- one enthusiast "taught" her pet rats to clean the kitchen bench for her after she'd finished preparing food.
Ants: These are more of a nuisance than carriers of disease. If they're in your garden, leave them alone. They will aerate the soil and are part of the cycle of breaking down organic material. If they get into your house, follow the ant trail back to their nest. Pour a kettle full of boiling water down their hole if you really have to kill them. Alternatively, simply deter them with strong smelling herbs and spices - cinnamon, basil, bayleaves, peppermint and essential oil of tea-tree are all possibilities. Put some in strategic locations where they are getting into your house. One thing to bear in mind is that ants are only really a nuisance if they get into your kitchen. If they are crawling into other rooms and removing the stray crumbs that have got onto your floor, they are more of a help than a pest. Not leaving crumbs around and doing a domestic cleaning London on a regular basis will get rid of them.
Moths: Real camphor rather than stinky synthetic mothballs are the best bet. Essential oils are other options, with good choices being cedarwood and cinnamon. An old-fashioned pomander made from an orange stuck with cloves, dried and hung up by a ribbon also works. In Shirley Conran's Superwoman, it is claimed that moths don't like perfume. A bunch of bayleaves or dried lavender also helps deter moths. Keeping vulnerable natural fibres in a cedarwood wardrobe also works.
Nick Vassilev is the director and owner of Anyclean, a successful carpet cleaning london business established in 1998. His company offers a wide array of carpet cleaning services to large and small commercial clients throughout Greater London.
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