Search & Destroy Mission

So after work yesterday I came home and Hubbs and I got to work on the pantry. We brought out everything inspecting boxes for holes, looking for small piles of crumbs, looking for evidence. And we found it. Oh we found it.

First up was my precious box of Red River hot porridge cereal (only available in Canada). Andrew found clumps and webbies inside. Next I saw a moth flying aroung, trapped in a sealed bag of white rice. Andrew opened up a box of barley and a moth, from the family of moths living inside, flew out. And then, in a "air tight" container (that will be returned to bed bath and beyond immediately) a fat larvae worm was found chilling in a clumpy ball nest of popcorn kernals that he had made for himself.

We ended up throwing away probably about $75-100 worth of stuff. We didn't find worms/moths in everything, but just thinking about their eggs on our food totally grossed us out and we didn't want to risk potential eggs hatching into another moth cycle.

Then I wiped down the entire pantry and swabbed each hole (in the adjustable shelving part) out with a q-tip dipped in bleach in case any eggs were laid in there. And back in went our remaining tiny stash of food. They said the best thing for storage is glass jars with a screw on lid, so I am already looking for more.

We also ordered pantry moth traps. Stupid Home Depot stores don't carry them, you have to order online, so instead of already being able to catch the moths, I have to wait for someone to slowly ship stuff to me. But that's about all we can do. When I came home last night from book club I killed another 4 moths that were flying around. So gross. There were several screams heard inside our apartment that day. And many shudders.

It just makes me feel like it will happen again. Apparently you get them from infected stuff in the grocery store and then bring it home. And you are supposed to avoid this by noticing moths flying around in the grocery store and inspecting every box you buy for tiny pinhole sized holes.

But also some of the stuff in our home was packaged badly. Both the Red River and the barley were sold in cardboard boxes that you just punch out a hole to pour out the stuff and then it has only that cardboard flap "door", so the moths just crawled right in. Very poor packaging if you ask me. Need more jars!!!

So if anyone ever has moths in their kitchen, don't just assume they came in the window seeking light- it could be much worse!