henry_the_cow | Return of the killer clothes moths

In some years, the arrival of spring has been heralded by the flowering of crocuses, or the lighter evenings, or even the sound of a distant cuckoo. This year, the first sign was a tiny white fluttering clothes moth.

We had a minor infestation of moths last year. They seemed to be everywhere and nowhere; almost any room might see one fluttering about but for a long time we couldn't find where they were coming from. We put repellents in all the cupboards and thoroughly cleaned the flat. Finally we found two possible sources - a box of cushions and one patch of carpet, which we blitzed. The numbers declined and with the onset of winter we seemed to be moth-free.

So it was disappointing to see a couple of moths again recently. We've replenished all the repellents and moth "traps" - bits of sticky card impregnated with a pheromone that attracts male moths. These traps are quite good; in addition to killing the moths they give some clues as to how many moths are in a particular area. I'm hoping we can use them to triangulate the position of the enemy base, so to speak.