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s2m no senki
Q: What household pest does s2m hate more than mosquitoes, more than scorpions, and more than fruit flies???
A: FLEAS.
Friday night (or very early Saturday morning for people with normal hours) Spicer-kitty decided to sleep for quite some time on my bed. He finally jumped down and I took a glance at where he was laying to see--flea dirt. Which is a polite way of saying flea crap: those short little curls of dark red digested blood squeezed out of the backside of the much-reviled pest.
I hate fleas. I abhor their very existence. Unlike the odd lone scorpion, or the annoyance of nose-spelunking fruit flies, or mosquitoes which are at least kept at bay outside, fleas are here. Inside my home. Where I work, eat, and sleep. And if you don't KILL THEM ALL the moment you realize they have invaded, they breed and mulitply and get in everything and drive you crazy and are disgusting and nasty and I will KILL THEM ALL!!!!
I've suffered through two past flea invasions since I've been back from college. My family let the first escalate into a revoltingly huge infestation untl I alone went ballistic and KILLED THEM ALL. The 2nd time I remembered my previous lesson and didn't wait nearly as long to snap and KILL THEM ALL, though I still let them get rather bad.
But now I have learned my lesson. At that first little sign of flea dirt on Friday night, I declared war. Chemical war. Thanks to my two previous victories, I know exactly how to emerge victorious.
1. Frontline on both Spicer and Braveheart.My, but that stuff's expensive!!
2. Wash everything cloth that was not in a cabinet or drawer or closet.
3. Spray EVERYTHING with flea killer. Throw pillows, stuffed animals, couch cushions, recliner chair, my mattress, bathroom rugs, curtains, and every inch of carpet. If it is even remotely fur-like and cannot be thrown in the washing machine, spray it.
4. Spray everything that has been washed and is not tucked away in a cabinet or draw or closet. Stuff like bedspreads, pillow cases, rugs, sheets over the furniture, etc.
Once my parents woke up, my mother helped me in my campaign. When we were finally finished Saturday evening, of course the house reeked of Raid. So we opened the windows, which helped. The smell was really getting to me, so I went outside for some fresh air just in time to catch skunk wafting in on the breeze. We had to close the windows to keep the stench out. That was at 9 PM or so. Around 3 AM I was starting to feel nauseous so I went back outdoors to try for fresh air again and it STILL reeked of skunk. How fun. Chemicial artificial not-so-stinky and very poisonous odor inside the house, all-natural incredibly horrid and strong odor outside the house. Which to choose? *headdesk* But the flea killer won. A little discomfort is a small price to pay to KILL THEM ALL.
Last night Spicer-kitty decided to sleep on top of me, and I couldn't completely drift off until he moved. Normally he only lays on me for about 10 min, but of course this time he chose to stay for an hour and a half. He finally shifted to my pillow and I lurched up to inspect the cream-colored bedspread where he'd been laying. Three fleas. Two dead (YAY!! Muwa hahahhaa!!) one alive *snarl*. All three were consigned to the septic deep.
The real kicker is that our cats are never allowed outside, so the only way fleas come in is when hitch a ride on US. The humans. I know we must have brought them home from my sister's house when we visited her last weekend. She has three large dogs who spend each night inside her house. And/or they jumped on my mom and I while we were in the front yard tending flowers or feeding birds. We have so many rabbits, birds, possums, stray cats, and other wild critters that visit our yard, so of course we have fleas out there. I tried to convince my parents to invest in some sort of flea-killer spread for the lawn a month ago, but did they listen to me? NO. My mother insists that keeping the lawn mowed will keep the fleas down. *snorts* Maybe. I sure as hell am not walking through the grass unless I absolutely have to.
In conclusion, Spicer-kitty has been sleeping on my desk (half on my manga printouts and half on Doumyouji) for the past 45 min, and he hasn't scratched once. I do believe I have emerged victorious once again. *maniacal laughter* though I now have flea-itis. This is a condition whereupon I instantly inspect each and every tickle on my skin to see if it's a cursed flea. Past experience tells me it will last for at least a week.
Ye gods, I hate fleas.
And yes, slr2moons kills anything she finds inside her house that is not human, cat, visiting dog, or houseplant. Maybe if I'm in a generous mood I'll capture it live and toss it out the door. Though I only grant that mercy to spiders.
Sometimes.
Friday night (or very early Saturday morning for people with normal hours) Spicer-kitty decided to sleep for quite some time on my bed. He finally jumped down and I took a glance at where he was laying to see--flea dirt. Which is a polite way of saying flea crap: those short little curls of dark red digested blood squeezed out of the backside of the much-reviled pest.
I hate fleas. I abhor their very existence. Unlike the odd lone scorpion, or the annoyance of nose-spelunking fruit flies, or mosquitoes which are at least kept at bay outside, fleas are here. Inside my home. Where I work, eat, and sleep. And if you don't KILL THEM ALL the moment you realize they have invaded, they breed and mulitply and get in everything and drive you crazy and are disgusting and nasty and I will KILL THEM ALL!!!!
I've suffered through two past flea invasions since I've been back from college. My family let the first escalate into a revoltingly huge infestation untl I alone went ballistic and KILLED THEM ALL. The 2nd time I remembered my previous lesson and didn't wait nearly as long to snap and KILL THEM ALL, though I still let them get rather bad.
But now I have learned my lesson. At that first little sign of flea dirt on Friday night, I declared war. Chemical war. Thanks to my two previous victories, I know exactly how to emerge victorious.
1. Frontline on both Spicer and Braveheart.
2. Wash everything cloth that was not in a cabinet or drawer or closet.
3. Spray EVERYTHING with flea killer. Throw pillows, stuffed animals, couch cushions, recliner chair, my mattress, bathroom rugs, curtains, and every inch of carpet. If it is even remotely fur-like and cannot be thrown in the washing machine, spray it.
4. Spray everything that has been washed and is not tucked away in a cabinet or draw or closet. Stuff like bedspreads, pillow cases, rugs, sheets over the furniture, etc.
Once my parents woke up, my mother helped me in my campaign. When we were finally finished Saturday evening, of course the house reeked of Raid. So we opened the windows, which helped. The smell was really getting to me, so I went outside for some fresh air just in time to catch skunk wafting in on the breeze. We had to close the windows to keep the stench out. That was at 9 PM or so. Around 3 AM I was starting to feel nauseous so I went back outdoors to try for fresh air again and it STILL reeked of skunk. How fun. Chemicial artificial not-so-stinky and very poisonous odor inside the house, all-natural incredibly horrid and strong odor outside the house. Which to choose? *headdesk* But the flea killer won. A little discomfort is a small price to pay to KILL THEM ALL.
Last night Spicer-kitty decided to sleep on top of me, and I couldn't completely drift off until he moved. Normally he only lays on me for about 10 min, but of course this time he chose to stay for an hour and a half. He finally shifted to my pillow and I lurched up to inspect the cream-colored bedspread where he'd been laying. Three fleas. Two dead (YAY!! Muwa hahahhaa!!) one alive *snarl*. All three were consigned to the septic deep.
The real kicker is that our cats are never allowed outside, so the only way fleas come in is when hitch a ride on US. The humans. I know we must have brought them home from my sister's house when we visited her last weekend. She has three large dogs who spend each night inside her house. And/or they jumped on my mom and I while we were in the front yard tending flowers or feeding birds. We have so many rabbits, birds, possums, stray cats, and other wild critters that visit our yard, so of course we have fleas out there. I tried to convince my parents to invest in some sort of flea-killer spread for the lawn a month ago, but did they listen to me? NO. My mother insists that keeping the lawn mowed will keep the fleas down. *snorts* Maybe. I sure as hell am not walking through the grass unless I absolutely have to.
In conclusion, Spicer-kitty has been sleeping on my desk (half on my manga printouts and half on Doumyouji) for the past 45 min, and he hasn't scratched once. I do believe I have emerged victorious once again. *maniacal laughter* though I now have flea-itis. This is a condition whereupon I instantly inspect each and every tickle on my skin to see if it's a cursed flea. Past experience tells me it will last for at least a week.
Ye gods, I hate fleas.
Sometimes.