Uninvited Guests!

[Giddy Goat]

Hullo all you LMH'ers, and a Happy New Year. I thought I'd kick it off by introducing the exciting subject of woodlice! Aren't you thrilled?!!

These non-disease carrying, but somewhat unappealing critters, (in French called 'cloportes', but aka pillbugs, since they roll into little balls when disturbed) periodically invite themselves to our house. They watch telly, play boules - with each other of course - and generally go where they're not wanted.

I now know everything there is to know about cloportes, even their life cycle, except for one important thing: how to get rid of the bleating things!! We asked the local pest control service to come and quote. The price made us see stars, and it came with no guarantee. We have 'trial treated' one room with a product called Kapo, specifically developed for crawling (and not flying) insects, found at M Bricolage as I recall. An aerosol spray. We don't yet know how effective it is, as the weather changed soon after and they're preferring to stay outside at the moment.

The advice one finds on the internet includes sealing all possible points of entry. This assumes that they come in at ground level, but ours seem to come off the beams more often than not. The timbers are dry.

Has anyone else had experience of these pesky things in France, and found a good product there (more convenient than bringing something across from the UK) to keep them at bay?

[cromercrabholiday]

No idea on woodlice, our problem in Norfolk has been flies. North Norfolk always seems to have a very healthy fly population - again, they don't bite or anything but you really don't want them around the place.

A couple of months ago, I was clearing out the roof space of rubbish left by the previous owner (only had the place three years!) as we were getting more insulation put in. I noticed hoards of flies that I assume were overwintering there. They have now had several doses of fly-killer, so we are hoping that it will make some difference next year - although as our roofspace is only one of many, it may be a forlorn hope.

Good luck with the woodlouse problem - it could be a lot worse!

John

[Giddy Goat]

Thanks for your good luck wishes John - yep, they could be head lice!!

Hope you manage to rid yourselves of the fly problem. A familiar scenario in Oz too!

[debk]

Eeeeeeew. We call these rolly polys... or pillbugs. Assuming these are what you are talking about?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... D%26sa%3DG

"Woodlice" conjures nasty images. Makes me skin crawl and head itch!

HNY,
debk

[Giddy Goat]

Yup Debs, that's them! The ones we have are the smaller variety, and are grey.

[debk]

Seattle pillbugs are small and grey, too, and I used to think they were rather cute. Until, that is, I knew they were called woodlice.
debk

[Giddy Goat]

What's in a name Debs - just forget I ever said the 'w' word, pillbugs sounds much more approachable - they match in rather well with our shabby chic decor too! Nevertheless.....

[Alan Knighting]

Debk,

Thanks to your posting Mon Jan 02, 2006 4:40 pm (I think) I now know what horizontal scrolling is all about.

Alan

[debk]

Guilty!

That link was so long it sent laymyhat waaaaaaaaaay on out there. Rather a pain, eh?
debk

[Alan Knighting]

Guilty!

That link was so long it sent laymyhat waaaaaaaaaay on out there. Rather a pain, eh?
debk

It was so long it reminded me of some of the silly e-mails I get through Hotmail. You know, those which claim to expand anything.

Alan

[Giddy Goat]

Ummm, Fluffs, do you think we could return to the subject in hand? Every time I get notification of another post, I click on hopefully in the belief that the answer to my problem has finally arrived.

[alexia s.]

Jane, pet, as my first new year gesture, I am thrilled to be able to tell you that we can provide the 100% guaranteed!!!! solution to your problem: our cat. Our cat loves to chase (and eat) these little balls of high-protein: I am willing to hire her out , but you must have someone like her near you whose fares you wouldn't have to pay.
BYW, our dear old dog also loved woodlice (but preferred bees).
Don't goats keep pets of any kind??? Should be your first New Year resolution.
Pets control snakes, bees, scorpions, woodlice, rodents ... and they keep you warm in winter. I'll bet your tenants don't do this.

[Giddy Goat]

Hi Alexia, and thanks pal - ever practical. Happy New Year! I thought you might have suggested I eat the pillbugs myself, but I found they didn't taste of much. Perhaps a pinch of curry powder might make them more palatable, but I have my doubts. Pets aren't something we can entertain as a solution until we're living there ourselves, sadly.

So, the quest for a cure continues!

[Giddy Goat]

Hi Alexia, and thanks pal - ever practical. Happy New Year! I thought you might have suggested I eat the pillbugs myself, but I found they didn't taste of much. Perhaps a pinch of curry powder might make them more palatable, though I have my doubts. Pets aren't something we can entertain as a solution until we're living there ourselves, sadly.

So, the quest for a cure continues!

[debk]

Jane, have you seen this? They say they can usually ship overseas.

http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/pillbug.html

Good luck!
debk