Bl****dy starlings...

Right, now I'm cross...

Stupid s*dding starlings have been nesting in the roof of my workshop for years - do they make an awful mess, or what?

So, this year, I've put some of the Screwfix eaves comb filler

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and very nice it is too...

...however, there is something living in the old nests... When I put my arm up to the eave from the outside of the building (it's single storey), I was SAVAGED by some sort of bloodthirsty insect - 20 or 30 bites all over one side of my body (not pretty) - all my clothes straight into the wash and me into the shower... I thought it might be fleas, but my neighbour, who knows a bit about wildlife, reckons its some sort of mite that lives in their nests, and not having fed all winter, they went for me...

...so, how can I kill the bugs (whatever they are). They're vicious, and I want them out. My neighbour thinks that if left for a year, they'll die anyway, but that means I'll have to avoid the loft (not easy - loads of stuff up there I want to use).

Thanks

Mike

Reply to
Mike Deblis
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If you have a "Country Store" of "Farmers supplies" type of shoppie near you (eg. Mole Valley Farmers in the SW) then go there and buy the anti-flea, anti scaley leg mite, anti red-mite powders in the poultry section.

Failing that, get some Virkon liquid (from the same place) and spray the area with that.

Or Bleach.

Gordon

Reply to
Gordon Henderson

Strikes methat you are too ... :-)

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Wouldn't it be better to remove them, and disinfect?

Reply to
Nigel Molesworth

I would, but they are... ALIVE... and I have no desire to be attacked again... Unless I'm completely suited up, they'll have a go...

Mike

Reply to
Mike Deblis

...only when provoked. And I've really been provoked!

Mike

Reply to
Mike Deblis

So are the mites :-)

Reply to
Mary Fisher

ALIVE? You mean they are actually LIVING???

Of course they will. Kill all living things. NOW. Especially anything which can harm humans.

Like other humans.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

The mites haven't been provoked - they're just hungry as they haven't eaten all winter. If there was a way to bag up the nests and move them, complete with mites, I'd do that.

However, without entering into a detailed discussion about hierachy in the animal kingdom, my current first choice option is to eliminate the mites as their natural hosts are not getting back into the loft, and I don't have any desire to be their "fall back" option...

So I'm going to kill them

Mike p.s. If you feel really strongly about this, you are welcome to come round to our place with a pair of tweezers, a magnifying glass and a collecting bottle, and to remove the little dears one by one. I suspect there are only a few thousand of the literally bloodthirsty little b*astards up there...

Reply to
Mike Deblis

where are you?

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Please feel free to ignore the person suggesting you keep them as pets.

You might try a garden insecticide, when they've been killed rake the nests out, and bung up the means of entry. You might try the natural history NG, or even the gardeners, to find out what these things might be. What can they be living on, I wonder (this is a rhetorical question)?

Reply to
Chris Bacon

excuse me - but its his house !

if the nest was in a wood then its their "turf"

when its inside the house - its our "turf"

get a life woman

or buy some shoes . . .

Reply to
Posting

I'm guessing sensible lace-ups, not leather.

Reply to
Nigel Molesworth

Mary Fisher wrote

It was _so_ nice when you were away.

It's hard to know what to do; some you killfile right away, but I hate killfiling people - and you're marginal.

But *why* do you insist on silly replies that bloat the thread with any tree-cuddly kick you're on at the moment; or snotty craftlady attitudes that (are intended to) get right up most practical male noses?

Is it the feminazi thing?

Reply to
mike

Excellent idea, but try to make an event of it. Think "Wasp Factory".... :o)

Reply to
Steve Walker

Or you could say that he was in their turf :-)

I wish I could ... :-)

I still can't wear them yet. When the hooks come out of the toes I shall :-)

Reply to
Mary Fisher

The only ones I wear are veggie tanned turnshoes because nothing else fits me. I also wear veggie tanned sandals - home made of course. Haven't worn lace-ups for fifty years or more. They were regulation school uniform.

Um

Just realised, perhaps you don't know what veggie tanned is ... Andy Dingley would. He knows about real things.

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Oh go on,do it - it doesn't hurt:-)

Or you could exercise self control and not open my posts - that wouldn't be too hard now, would it? :-)

er - such as?

You have the advantage of me there. I have no idea what 'feminazi' means. Is it an adolescent word?

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Now you are talking ;-)

To tan leather you use human urine, preferably from red-heads. So veggie tanned must mean you use veggie urine. Or am I taking the piss?

Reply to
Nigel Molesworth

Wasn't it just.

Marginally what?

Self importance? The need to have someone to talk to?

Reply to
Chris Bacon

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