Homemade Gnat Trap

Monday, September 28, 2009   0 Comments

After a weekend away, we discovered a small gnat infestation in our kitchen from some fruit we over looked. I spend the next 10 minutes attempting to kill the 30 gnats flying around our kitchen. Laughing, my girl friend introduced me to a simple and quite effective homemade gnat trap, and sure enough within a half hour the trap had claimed 8 gnats. So here's how you do it.

Supplies:
Small Bowl, Plastic Cling Wrap, Apple Cider Vinegar, and a tooth pick.

Instructions

1. Poor 1-2 oz of Apple Cider Vinegar into the Small Bowl.


2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, ensure a tight seal, especially along the edges.


3. with the toothpick poke 4-6 holes in the middle of the plastic wrap. The wholes shouldn't be much be much wider then the toothpick diameter. Just wide enough for a fat gnat.


4. Place the trap out near your infestation.

Attracted to the odor of the vinegar, the gnats will find their way through the plastic wrap, and into the apple cider vinegar lake of death. The gnats will attempt to crawl up the sides, so its important the plastic wrap has a tight seal. You can also use a rubber band if the plastic wrap isn't very clingy.

Not So Expert Tip:
Additionally I added a couple of drops of vinegar to the top of the trap to attract more gnats. Don't know if this is effective or not.

Labels: Animal, Gnat, Home, Trap

Mike the Headless Chicken

Friday, September 11, 2009   0 Comments

Discovering new factoid, stories and oddities (in this case) can occur just about anywhere. I learned about Mike the Headless Chicken from the Wikipedia front page. 64 years ago yesterday Mike (then known as dinner) survived his would be execution, lived for 18 months and became a quite the sensation in Fruita, Colorado.

The story goes, a woman sent her son-in-law to fetch a chicken for dinner. Measuring the bird up, he strikes what should be a fatal blow, however, Mike shook it off and continued to live. The ax missed his jugular vein and a good portion of the brain stem. Most of the chicken's functions such as breathing and heart rate are controlled in the brain stem, not the brain, and this was enough to keep Miracle Mike alive. Mike lived a good live trying to do normal chicken things.

Fed small pieces of corn and water through an eye dropper. Mike's second life began as a sideshow attraction with his buddy the two headed cow. He was displayed with a floating head in a jar, which wasn't actually his, as the cat got a hold of it before it could be saved. Quite the local celebrity, Time and Life magazines both featured him. 18 months after his would be death, Mike choke on a piece of corn.

Fruita still celebrates Mike with a 'Mike the Headless Chicken Day'. Festivities include Egg Tosses, Chicken Bingo, Chicken Dance and I'm pretty sure a good serving of fried chicken.

Links:

• Website: http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/

Labels: americana, Animal, chicken, Colorado, death, United States, weird