Thursday, September 24, 2009

Small Game Hunter

For the most part, I have a live and let live philosophy. As a devout vegetarian, I don't eat animals and I'm not a big fan of hunters. But, toward the efforts of full disclosure, I've been doing a bit of hunting lately and, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I've really gotten caught up in the thrill of it all.

I've been very successful at it too. While a lot of novices go tromping about only to come home empty-handed, I've snagged quite a few critters. I even thought about mounting a few trophies on my wall, but I'm not sure how well this would standout:


Of course, I hope you realize that the picture is of a flea!! We thought we had the situation under control this summer, but it has become very problematic over the past three weeks. I suppose that's to be expected in a house with 3 cats and 2 dogs.

Since we try to live a non-toxic lifestyle, getting rid of the vermin with poison is not an option. We've employed some Diatomaceous Earth on the carpets, lemon juice and vinegar on the dogs, and frequent combing of the cats with a small flea brush. I've also set up a trap in my bedroom (a small pan of water with soap in it and a bright light shined on it). All of these strategies have had some success.

However, the method that has proven the most successful concurrently is the most labor-intensive -- duct tape! Utilizing small strips of the tape, I crawl around on the carpet looking for my next victim. When it's spotted, I quickly press the tape down hard and the flea sticks to it. I can keep this up for an hour or two and wind up with several dozen trophies.

While most humans would find such activity to be drab and boring, as an aspie with OCD, I've found the whole endeavor to be interesting and entertaining. Each time I nab one of the little boogers, I let out a yell, "Gotcha!" Every now and then, one of 'em will outsmart me, but I usually win in the end. HA HA.

With autumn now upon us, both the flea and mosquito problems will start to ebb. Good thing because, if not, I would need to buy another large roll of duct tape.

Woohoo! Just nabbed another one.

5 comments:

  1. Not planning on having that problem, but if I ever do, I'll do what to do.

    I highly doubt that I'll be so thrilled, I'm but happy that you are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You need to add garlic to your dog and cat food. Yes it will put a damper on your hunting but it is very effective in eliminating fleas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've read that garlic is toxic for cats.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry, this has nothing to do with this post. Seeing how you are interested in all things Tao, I saw this irreverent cartoon and wanted to pass it on to you: "Lao Tzu"

    http://abstrusegoose.com/187

    Please feel free to delete this comment.

    Regards,

    Baskar

    ReplyDelete
  5. Baskar,
    I have a very, very, very liberal comment policy. In 5 years, I think I've only deleted 2 or 3 comments and each was really nasty spam. (Note: I saw this comic earlier today.)

    ReplyDelete

Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.