Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site aicchi.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!aicchi!ivy
From: ivy@aicchi.UUCP (Iverson)
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: "Flea and Tick Killer?"
Message-ID: <656@aicchi.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Jan-86 13:43:49 EST
Article-I.D.: aicchi.656
Posted: Sun Jan 19 13:43:49 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Jan-86 06:30:58 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Analysts International Corp; Chicago Branch
Lines: 25

**************

Last year, a new pet - a  reptile  -  arrived  into  the  family,
complete   with  a  retinue  of  scale  mites.   A  herpetologist
recommended    the   choice   between   careful     doses      of
commercial insecticide,  or  accepting the mites as part of life,
since this variety was no health threat to the reptile itself and
could  not   spread  to  anyone  or  anything  else  in our home.
Weighing the cosmetic gain of my never  having  to  look  at  the
mites  against  the  chemical   threat   to  the  pet's health, I
decided upon an enthusiastic cleaning of the terrarium and a  few
baths for the beast, all of which  only made it easier to see the
mites.   Then,  I  read  an article concerning  the    ecological
function   of  caffeine in plants, which concluded that  it  was,
first  and  foremost,  a  natural insecticide   (and   not   part
of  a healthful, human diet).  The reptile was less than thankful
when I brewed up  a  big  pot  of strong  coffee,  cooled it   in
the  sink, and dunked him into it for a ten minute bath, repeated
the bath the next  day  and  also cleaned   the  terrarium   with
the   brew.   The mites,  however, must have had an even stronger
opinion,  as  they  promptly  vanished  without     trace     and
haven't    been    seen  since.   And since then, for reasons but
poorly understood, I myself still drink coffee.

(Once in the morning, does it.)