The war of the Indian meal moth.

We have quite a few feeders to keep full and so we buy seed in 30 lb or larger bags. Incidentally we use Blue Seal Feed because it seems fresh and the birds really like it. I suppose it is not a ultra premium feed but by the same token it is not discount store cheap.

We have learned by experience that the best way for us to keep the bird feed is to lock it tight in a metal trash can with a tight fitting lid. We use new galvanized cans and we wash them with soapy water before using. It would not due to use an old can when there is no way of knowing what kind of paint, leaking batteries or other poisonous substances were discarded.

The metal cans keep out the usual suspects including mice, chipmunks, raccoon, skunks and rats, yes rats. Sorry to break it to you but if you are feeding birds you are probably feeding a number of other creatures as well. If you don’t think so wait until an hour of so after dark and suddenly shine a bright light on the ground under the feeder. Yikes. But think of it this way, they will keep the place cleaned up !

Anyhow we had just brought a large bag of feed home from the dealer and we wanted to fill some feeders. The food in the cans was a few months old and so we wanted to clean it out and make room for new fresh food. So we brought the bag inside the house as most of the feeders are close to the house.

In a few days there seemed to be a number of small moth like creatures flying around the computer screen. At first this seemed harmless enough and there was no indication this was anything more than a few moths coming indoors for warmth.

But in a day or so there seemed to be a few more than just a few. In fact there were quite a few and although they were not exactly troublesome it was annoying to think the house was becoming infested by these winged invaders.

It was about then that Phyllis put 2 and 2 together and figured out that the moths were coming form the bird seed. The reason we never had this problem before is we usually keep the feed outside, cold and under wraps. It seems that once the seed was indoors the moths hatched due to the warmth. I guess we knew about this all along but we were not thinking about it since we rarely keep the bird seed indoors.

We reckon the moths are Indian meal moths and if they are not dealt with they can be a problem. Thankfully it seems we caught them in time and we always keep flour, cereals, grains and breads sealed tight to protect against any such pests. Never the less we will keep checking as one moth can lay over 400 eggs per day.

The best way to deal with these guys is to keep any suspect products like bird feed out doors and sealed up tight.

This one fall under the “we won’t do that again right away” category. That is until we forget it again.