Moths are evil. Their frantic flapping and ugly brown wings make me cringe.
In the last four days, Roomie and I encountered two trespassing moths in our dorm room, which I had to dispose of. Since I'm becoming quite the moth expert, I decided to create a list of Mighty Moth Hunter Techniques.
Several options and a necessary item:
Fly swatter - preferably a pretty colored one. Teal is the 1990's favorite at home. Squish the moth with the big wide end. A heavy dictionary also works.
Paper cup and cardboard/ paper- for the humane hunters who only want to release it into the wild. Some sort of exit, either a door or a window, is helpful to let it go outside.
Closed window with a screen - Trap the moth between the screen and the window area until you can deal with it or let it die. A plastic spoon or some other slender object may be needed to slide the moth's body out.
Courage Method- All of the methods require this ability not to freak. You know the moths are out to get you; you can feel it in the way they wiggle their little antennae and stare at you with their beady little eyes. However, a scream at the wrong moment can ruin the hunt, scare the crap out of you, and let the moth find a new place to hide.
In the end, Roomie and I ended up using the "Closed window with Screen" method as well as the "Fly Swatter" method, but substituting the fly swatter with a piece of notebook paper. Hopefully more moths won't come in, but if they do, we'll be ready.
Moth picture from: http://www.ent.iastate.edu/images/lepidoptera/wbcutworm/western_bean_cutworm_moth.jpg
