Seems like all the postings in the french and arab threads are by you, Fred. I just thought I’d drop by for a minute and keep you company.
I’ve got a question for you. I’ve noticed that here in Taiwan my kitchen waste breeds tiny flies that turn to disgusting little white worms in a matter of days, which poses a slight problem. You see, the blue garbage bags that I buy hold about 5 days worth of trash, but the flies appear in maybe 2 or 3 days and then turn to worms by maybe the 4th day. I don’t want to throw out the bag half empty, but nor do I want to breed vermin. Do you have a similar problem and if so how have you dealt with it? Just curious.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]Seems like all the postings in the french and Arab threads are by you, Fred. I just thought I’d drop by for a minute and keep you company.
I’ve got a question for you. I’ve noticed that here in Taiwan my kitchen waste breeds tiny flies that turn to disgusting little white worms in a matter of days, which poses a slight problem. You see, the blue garbage bags that I buy hold about 5 days worth of trash, but the flies appear in maybe 2 or 3 days and then turn to worms by maybe the 4th day. I don’t want to throw out the bag half empty, but nor do I want to breed vermin. Do you have a similar problem and if so how have you dealt with it? Just curious.
Thanks for the courtesy of your reply.[/quote]
Buy smaller blue bags? Start a compost heap? Throw Fred into the trash to fill the bags up faster?
Impressively lengthy articles, Fred, but did you have a chance to consider my dilemma? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Should I get smaller bags? Create more garbage? Start a compost heap? What do you think? :?
Incidentally, I should point out that I’m not averse to the idea of composting, though one might have gained that impression based on a comment I once made concerning Miltown Kid’s thread on indoor composting. It’s just that I always thought a compost heap was an outdoor thing. . . and regrettably my present abode seems to lack the proper facilities for composting.
Nonetheless, I am open to all reasonable suggestions and will be grateful for the courtesy of your reply.
If I didn’t know better, I might think you were ignoring me Fred. But as a fellow forumosan I know that we are bound together by that common link that only my wife can break when she tells me to shut off the damn computer and come to bed. And yet. . . and yet. . . I am getting no response to my most simply of queries.
Have you not flies? Have you not seen the worms that breed in common kitchen trash? Have you no compassion for your fellow man stuck in Taiwan watching the worms multiplying amongst the orange peels and coffee grounds?
How about a little advice for one who is down on his luck? I don’t ask for much, just a piece of your brain.
I trust that you simply overlooked my query in your haste to post wisdom on worldly affairs. But for poor little me, sitting here in Taiwan watching the worms I look forward to your kind advice.
Sounds familiar. My roomate thought they were maggots. But I don’t eat meat and neither does anyone else in the house. We noticed the larvae things when we got back from vacation, and the guy who was looking after our pets, well… he eats flesh, so maybe he left some chicken feet or something or another in the garbage. Can maggots thrive on vegetable matter, or do they need gristle and other suchness to get by? Anyway, we compost… so all I can suggest is that you find some way to get the garbage out of the house faster. You can store it on your balcony, but you tend to forget about it when it’s out there and that can get ugly.
Thanks Akosh. I don’t think they’re maggots. I thought maggots were related to common house flies and these don’t seem to be. They seem to be related to much smaller flies. And I do think they feed off of vegetable matter though I can’t be certain – to be honest, I don’t completely understand the life cycles of such creatures.
My solution, incidentally, has been to use multiple plastic bags. I don’t want to take out the trash every day, so I’ll wrap each couple of days worth of trash in a small plastic bag, which I’ll then tie up tightly, stick in the blue money-bag and then fill another small baggie. I feel badly about using so much plastic, but it works to combat the vermin problem and I’ve got all the damn plastic baggies anyway.
So is your compost pile indoors? Miltown was asking about that before?
All I ever do is boil them, thoroughly. Sometimes I get a little white foam on the top of the boiling water, This stuff has an interesting odor. If you want to taste it, it’s good to have a cold. Either way, the flavor of the foam isn’t bad though I prefer to skim it off. The dogs love it! Usually the maggots I collect are from range cattle who’ve died over the winter. In addition to the maggots I often find the carcass’s contain good material for other uses. The stiff skin can be softened and used, there are the tendons, hooves and even some aged beef (occasionally).
Come on Mother. This is very funny, but its damned rude. Leave Fred alone.
(They’re fruit fly larvae, btw, so I suppose they are indeed maggots of a kind). The flies’ll lay eggs on pretty much any rotting vegetable matter.
Sorry Sandman, but this one is too good to keep for myself. . . and it’s important news too.
Suit says maggots tainted breakfast
August 23, 2003
A Sacramento couple who allegedly discovered maggots wriggling on their Sausage McMuffins with Egg last summer after biting into the breakfast sandwiches have sued McDonald’s Corp. for medical costs and emotional damages. Ta Van Le bought four McMuffins at the McDonald’s at 4731 Mack Road July 28, 2002, and brought them to his nearby apartment to eat with his wife, according to attorney Robert Lee, who has filed a civil claim in Sacramento Superior Court on behalf of the couple.
Le and his wife, Huyen Ta, ate two of the sandwiches before discovering fly larvae covering the sausage patty on the remaining two, said their attorney, who has had the frozen McMuffins in his office freezer for the past year. “You unwrap it, and most people don’t even look at it,” Lee said. “You just unwrap it real fast and take a bite. And then, you look down, and you see these little squiggly things.” McDonald’s Northern California spokeswoman Shelly King said the Oak Brook, Ill., corporation has investigated Le’s claim and “we have not seen any evidence whatsoever to suggest that this allegation is true.”
Just for the record. I have a huge fridge and freezer, so I keep excess vegetable matter, such as carrot tops, super cool until garbage day. As long as you keep your appliances plugged in and the door closed, and the power remains on of course, you won’t have a problem with maggots. But in your case, I would consider using a weapon of mass destruction (RAID). Just squirt it once a day and nothing will grow in there.
Speaking of maggots, Fred, did you know that economic sanctions in Iraq have led to a shortage of animal vaccines that in turn have led to an epidemic of screwworms that threatens to wreak havoc in Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Region.
The Old World Screwworm is a large, blue-green, striped fly that is about twice the size of a common house fly. Adult female screwworm flies lay eggs on broken skin or wounds of humans or animals. The eggs soon hatch into carnivorous larvae which borrow into the wound to feed on live tissue. They increase their mass up to 30 times in eight days.
Speaking of “economic sanctions”, Mother Teresa, you do know that the sanctions allowed Iraq, even under Saddam Hussein, to purchase as much vaccine as he wanted, don’t you?
Unfortunately, he preferred to purchase palaces and weapons components, and the U.N. – which was the body in charge of administering the “sanctions”, NOT the U.S. – wasn’t interested in managing his purchases to force him to buy what was actually needed by “his” people. . . .
