The moth

Let's talk about the moth.

No, not this moth.

 Not this one either

I really, REALLY want to talk to you about this one:

I don't remember how or when it began. A bag of chocolate covered ginger left too long in the pantry? A package of oatmeal that slid out of sight long enough so that when discovered and opened a few of these fellows flew out?

This summer we found ourselves in the midst of a full blown infestation. I'm sure the 100+ degree temperatures in our vintage apartment didn't help, nor the bags and bags of grain and seed purchased from the bulk section of our grocery store.

I'd think that most of us are familiar with this pantry pest, but if you've never lived through an infestation you have no idea what kind of monster you are dealing with.

According to several online sources, the first line of defense is good housekeeping. Well, I guess that's something more I can add to my list of things that make me feel bad about myself. Thanks.

The second step for anyone who suspects an infestation is to locate the possible source. Ok, let's see. I found webbing in the corn meal, adult moths in the semolina, little moth carcasses in the barley, larvae in the crisco (!), a little dusty moth party in the risotto, and I can't even tell you what I discovered in the hamster food.

They can eat through flimsy plastic bags and sturdier plastic packaging. I was admittedly shocked to find them in the unopened crisco, but downright ticked off when they starting having babies in a tightly sealed plastic bag of oatmeal that was placed inside a tightly sealed plastic container with a locking plastic lid.

I have dreams about them eating through the walls of the kitchen. I go crazy when I see them. There is carnage all over the kitchen, evidence of my exasperation is smeared across every surface of our pantry.  When I hit them, they don't so much squish to death as simply go down in a POOF! of dust. I see them perched on the wall staring at me. POOF! I find them sitting on the shelf next to the bag of pasta. POOF! I find them in the crack where the kitchen wall meets the kitchen ceiling, in various stages of moth metamorphosis. SQUISH! Ok. Those guys squish.

I cleaned out the cabinet we use as a pantry. I vacuumed it out, washed every shelf, every drawer. I threw away every bag or container of possible moth fodder. I started over. I felt good. But they came back.

Chris said to me the other night:

"Well, they'll die at high temperatures, right? So once the food is cooked, they're dead. So what's the problem?"

Am I the only one who has a problem with this line of thinking?

Instead, every week  I just keep buying my rice/barley/oatmeal/raisins/quinoa from the bulk bins and placing them in my pantry like I've forgotten there is a problem. And every week that follows I throw them away when I find evidence of moth mayhem.

I try not to get discouraged by the information I find online. For example, their life cycle can take up to 300 days. A female moth lays 60 - 400 freaking eggs on the surface of food. They are adept at entering tightly sealed containers. They tend to travel far and wide, meaning the actual source of infestation may be somewhere else in the house/building.

There is hope. I can freeze all the food. I can buy moth traps which (comically) promise to "precipitate [their] destruction."

So let the war begin. I fully intend on winning this battle.