Sunday, 24 March 2024

Birds and Pantry Moths


 It is a beautiful spring day and our walk around Willband Creek was such a pleasure.  We saw an otter and loads of small birds but one that we didn't see was the pileated woodpecker.  We met a fellow walker and she told us where she had seen one but when we walked there we neither saw nor heard it.
Years ago when we lived in the country we had pileated woodpeckers make their nest in a hollow tree along our long driveway. When the young ones were a certain age we'd see them hanging out of the hole as they waited for the parents to bring food.

picture from the internet

 

 When we came back I planted my onion sets. I chose red ones this year. 80 in a bag which is too many for us so I'll be looking for someone who wants some.

again the picture is from the internet

 

My house smells like lavender. We've been noticing small brownish moths mostly in the kitchen. I'm fairly sure they are Pantry Moths also known as Meal Moths. They look for cereal or other dry food  and lay their eggs. The larva are destructive and foul the foods that they hatch in so we're trying to get rid of them. I read that they don't like the scent of lavender so that's why I have been putting drops of lavender essential oils in various places.   Anyone else had a problem with them? Any advice is welcome.

That's it for today. I think I'll go sit on the porch now.


Thanks for visiting,  GM


11 comments:

  1. Get the pantry moth traps from Amazon and put around your kitchen. They have pheromones that attract the males. Unfortunately you still have to thoroughly clean the pantry and dispose of all infected food. Store all goods that will be affected by the moths in sealed containers.

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  2. Beautiful woodpecker. I've never had pantry moths so not sure what to do. I'm still trying to get rid of the gnats in my plant soil. There are less of them but still there. I've tried hydrogen peroxide on watering day. I have a bowl of sugar water with apple cider vinegar and dish soap. I've caught lots of gnats in the sugar water mix, like dozens, but they're still flying around a bit. I'm about ready to just throw out all of my plants. The little pests. Grrrrrr.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  3. No, I've never had that problem with the moths. Sure hope the lavender works. At least you house smells nice. :)

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  4. Good luck with the moths they can be such a pest. We have those woodpeckers here also they love the pines.
    Cathy

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  5. I always get excited when I see a Pileated woodpecker. They are so special. We had a couple nest in a hollow tree in the back yard a few years ago but I never saw a baby. I just planted a bag of onion sets last week. I bought the mixed ones.

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  6. I had those moths once. They are horrid. I hope you can get rid of them.

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  7. We've been seeing a Downy Woodpecker couple visit our suet feeder for the past few weeks. The Pileated ones are very special and usually only seen in the woods. I've not had those moths, and I hope the lavender oil deals with them.

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  8. We very seldom see the pileated woodpecker but it certainly is a treat when we do see one! When one of my brothers was still living at the home place, he would see them quite often...and he's just one county over.

    I will be interested to hear if the lavender really does take care of the pantry moths.

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  9. Such a fine bird! We have here another, nearly similar kind: " great spotted woodpecker". He comes daily to eat from a special meal for birds all around the year.
    We prefer also red onions.
    The moths are a problem. My neighbor has them and they don't leave her kitchen. Maybe lavender helps.

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  10. Granny, you can buy sticky traps for the meal moths and I have had some success with them. Fran

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  11. When we lived in Florida I kept flour and cereals in the fridge!

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