Be prepared to deal with pests

PESTS IN THE HOME OR NATURE ARE A PERENNIAL SUMMER PROBLEM. HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR DEALING WITH SOME OF THEM. PESTS in the home or nature are a perennial summer problem. Here are some tips

for dealing with some of them: Ants: To keep them away, put down pieces of lemon, coffee grounds, sage leaves or camphor crystals (from a pharmacy). If these remedies fail, you can put down

drops of gel appât anti-fourmis (anti-ant bait) from garden centres. Cockroaches: To avoid toxic insecticides, keep everywhere as clean as possible and put down balls made from boric acid

(from a pharmacy) mixed with condensed milk. Wasps: Make a trap by cutting off the top third of a plastic drink bottle, then putting it, top first, into the other part and gluing it. Put

beer or syrup and water in the bottom. Purpose-built traps and products such as repellent sprays can be found in garden centres. Do not put a trap too close to your home and call the fire

brigade if you find a nest. Ticks: Watch out of you are walking in long grass, especially in the east of France, as blood-sucking ticks can attach to your legs. Buy a tire-tiques from a

pharmacy - a plastic fork used to pull it off with a lifting and twisting motion. Sea urchins: If you step on one, pull out broken off spines. If bits are left, put on vinegar or lime juice,

which will help dissolve them, then an anti-inflammatory cream. Then see a doctor. Rascasse (scorpionfish): Stepping on one of these spiny fish also requires a doctor’s visit. For first-aid

(the stings are lessened by heat), walk on hot sand or place a cigarette or cigarette lighted near the area, then put on an anti-inflammatory cream. Jellyfish: Clean a sting with seawater

and carefully remove debris with a firm item like a credit card. Scatter with sand if you are on the beach to absorb venom. Do not rub. Use an antiseptic liquid such as Eau de Dakin, and

then an anti-inflammatory gel.