Grandma’s trick to get rid of those pesky Colorado miller moths

Those nasty, dusty, ugly butterfly-looking miller moths are back to drive you crazy. Experts say you shouldn’t kill them because they serve a purpose, but if you have 500 of them at your house like I do, you may need to get rid of some of them! So, here’s my grandma Dorothy’s old remedy to get rid of them.

Although they don’t hurt you and won’t eat tonight’s dinner out of the pantry, they are more than annoying. Maybe it’s their size, maybe it’s their reckless flight or that “dust” that they’re covered in, but something about these little buggers drives me crazy!

Growing up I remember my grandmother being deathly afraid of “millers,” and keeping a bowl of soapy water in every room of her house to catch them. After having three of them fly at my head in the studio over the last few days, I am thinking about setting up a few of my grandma’s “miller booby traps.”

How to get rid of moths:

• The two main “eaters” of miller moths are swallows and grizzly bears. Because it may cause more problems to keep a wild bird or bear around the house to take care of the moths, most active house cats, and even some dogs, enjoy a miller or two from time to time as well, and have fun catching them too.
• Oh, and my grandma’s soapy water trick does work too. Suspend a light bulb over a bucket partially filled with soapy water. Moths attracted to the light often will fall into the water and be killed. If this is attempted, some wetting agent, such as soap or detergent, must be added, or many moths will escape.