Bugs in the attic. (A thread about creepy crawlies in your/my house.)

That sounds more like a slug than a snail!

We had a fly infestation when we first moved into our flat, but all we did to get rid of it was just kill as many of them as we could. I got quite good at it. After a couple of weeks there were none left. I assume they were probably eating a dead mouse under the floor and once they'd eaten it all there was no more food so they either moved on or FELT MY WRATH.

There's a difference between a slug and a snail? My dad asked me: "Did he leave his house at home?" haha I thought I was spared as I don't live in Tokyo (which they do and thus have to suffer cockroaches) but alas I didn't count on slugs/snails.

We get ants from time to time, it is just one of the things you have to deal with living in a ground floor flat. Last month we had a mega-infestation of some sort of fly/ant hybrid in our bathroom, but a liberal skoosh of bug-killer got rid of them all, and they haven't come back (haven't seen anything similar in the six years of living here, no idea where they came from, or why).

Nathalie, yes, a snail is more or less a slug with a shell.

Ummm not so - snails are CUUUUUUUTE and you can pick them up; they also react OK to salt (and garlic and parsley, but that's another matter). I found a massive one on some cut parsley I picked up last weekend and rehomed him on a chilli plant.

Slugs are just animated goo held in place by a fine, salt-permeable membrane as far as I can tell. YUCK.

In my last flat there were MICE, and I can tell you nothing is more fun than stepping on a warm, dead one.

i've been getting milipedes. it's so hot out right now that all the bugs are coming inside to cool off!

We also had mice, hence assuming the flies were feeding on one. We got one of those ultrasonic mouse repellent thingies, which seems to have worked.

Our 27th floor office is infested with some weird, flealike little flying things. Ugh. WTF, where would they come from? Theres dead bugs in the toilet water all the time. Maybe a bunch of flowers brought them in.

I was generalizing for simplicity (hence why I said "more or less") - there's a whole wide internet out there for researching the proper differences between slugs and snails.

Ailsa, I think we call'em "flying ants." We had'em as well a few weeks ago. I blasted them to hell. They had come in from the street through the postbox. Urgh.

Yep, mice had'em as well. Just one or two mind you. My mum said the last one had stopped in the middle of the kitchen, gave her a mean arrogant look and moved on. hahahahaha

My aunt used to have mice in her first floor flat when we were living with her. Them be some tenacious mice. I remember as a child having to let my dad go into the kitchen first to check the trap so as to shield my brother and I from the sight of squished mouse before we'd had our breakfast. Oh happy days!

I had a mouse when Gareth was living with me and Ed and one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life is the mouse running down the corridor followed by Gareth, both in a weird kind of slow-motion which ought to have been soundtracked to Ride of the Valkyries.

I walked into the kitchen to find my cat batting a squeaking mouse around while the kitten looked on. The mouse then ran into a hole under the cooker. That day we got the ultrasound thing and we never saw it again. Dunno if it was the ultrasound or the fact that mousey now knew HERE BE CATS so got the fuck out of dodge.

Do you guys consider it to be... a sign of "dirtiness" when you have these ghastly things in your house? I can't help feeling a slob because of it. :-(

Suzy, if only you had taped that. :-)

Not really, at least not this time :P We'd only just moved in, so it was the previous occupants' filth that might have attracted them.

No, because we've lived here bug-free for six years until last month's infestation, which was in our newly-redecorated and freshly-scrubbed bathroom.

my flowerpot is full of snails!!

Nath, I don't think a snail/slug is a sign of dirtiness. It's just a little critter. For that matter ants/roaches probably aren't either though they gross people out.

I think it's more a matter of where you live (if you live in apartments butt up next to people it's hard not to have roaches) and if you leave opportunity for them (like ants, if you're prone to them). Removing food and water sources that can attract pests (pet food bowls left out) can help keep them away. You're still bound to see them every now and then no matter how clean you are. Humans haven't completely killed nature. :)

The worse pest issues we've had in this house were rats in the attic (gone now) and a brief gnat infestation. (those are horrible to get rid of once they get going.) The latter was my fault as a bag of potatoes had been sitting out for ages and I didn't notice one had started to rot. :/

lso our house is old and had termites in the past. They were eradicated before we bought it but I worry about their return. Termites are nasty.