I have a pile next to my washer of clothes that need to be washed by hand or on delicate. Dave's brown North Face sweater had been lying there for a while. When I picked it up and inspected it, I was disgusted to notice that there were (ew!) termite eggs all over it. For those who have not been to our house, our washer and dryer are in the bonus room - a room made from what used to be the garage. In that section of the bonus room, there is deteriorating insulation and ceiling above the washer/dryer. I have NO DOUBT that there are termites all over this home, but since it is a rental we have been trying to avoid the trouble of tenting and vacating the premises and all those horrible chemicals and just stick it out.
I shook out the eggs (shivers) and promptly put the sweater in the washer on delicate.
When I relayed my unwelcome discovery to Dave, Matthew - who was in the next room overheard us. Here's how the conversations went:
Me: Dave, I found termite eggs on your brown North Face sweater.
Dave: (recoiling and sticking out his tongue) Ew!
Matthew (voice coming from the next room): You found TERMITE EGGS?
Me (shouting): Yes, but don't worry - I got rid of them.
Matthew: WHAT?!? You should have kept them for me!
Ah, boys! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you ever do let him keep a termite egg, or find termites and catch them, you can teach them about pheromones by drawing on a piece of paper with black papermate pens (I'm not sure which other ones work but papermates are supposed to work for sure) :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/how-does_5184906_termites-attracted-ink_.html
Nathan, thank you for this educational opportunity. I am sure we will have many more chances (sadly) to try your experiment. I'll keep you posted :-). Love, Chenning
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