FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF NOV. 25, 2001:
Yeegads! I was cooking oatmeal and a couple of red bugs floated to the top of the water. What are they? Where did they come from? I think I ate a few.
We probably ALL eat a few red flour beetles every now and then, says Bob Stoltz, University of Idaho Extension entomologist. That's what these 1/16th-inch-long, reddish-brown bugs are called.
According to Stoltz, red flour beetles can creep into all types of flour products and even dried mushrooms. They can't attack whole grains or intact seeds; they like their food and nesting materials cracked or worn down to dust.
How did they get into your kitchen? They probably either flew in or came in on contaminated bulk items. To get rid of them, check your flour products and toss out anything that's infested. Then vacuum your kitchen shelves--set the vacuum cleaner bags in an outside trashcan right away--and wipe down the shelves with a damp cloth or detergent.
"You can spray if you want to, but I don't usually recommend that if people have done a good job of sanitation," Stoltz says.
From now on, store all your flour products inside airtight metal or plastic containers. You can hold the sacks in your freezer until there's room in your containers to empty them.
While red flour beetles aren't a threat to your health, Stoltz says they can give your food a bad taste if they infest it in high-enough numbers.
By the way, their larvae are about the same length as the adults, but they're white with brown heads. They can float in your cereal bowl, too.
Every year at Christmas I give my niece, now 8, a fairly substantial gift. My sister remarried this year and now has a 10-year-old stepdaughter living in her home. I understand that the stepdaughter's blood relatives are in a position to be quite generous with her. Should I give both girls a gift of equal value--splitting my gift budget evenly between the two--or is it OK to give one girl less and the other more?
Now is the time to help your sister welcome her new daughter into your family, says Harriet Shaklee, University of Idaho Extension family development specialist. Split your gift dollars in half, even if that means the 8-year-old will receive a less expensive gift than she otherwise would.
"It's important that your step-niece feel fully a part of her new family," says Shaklee. She's facing plenty of adjustment challenges right now--new expectations, new routines and a new sibling, and treating her equitably can be your contribution to easing her way.
Ask your sister for recommendations on gifts. "Children are not as attentive to the cost of a gift as they are to how well it fits their interests," Shaklee says.
Exploring your step-niece's interests with your sister will also help acquaint you with your new relative before the holidays.
I have my cholesterol levels checked every year at my health club. They don't seem to vary much, but my triglycerides fluctuate quite a bit. What would cause this?
Your levels of triglycerides--the storage form of fats--are affected by what you eat. Always fast 9 to 12 hours before you have your blood drawn, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho Extension nutrition specialist. A high-fat or high-carbohydrate meal can increase your triglyceride levels several hours after you've eaten. Consuming more calories than usual or drinking even a few glasses of wine or beer will drive up triglycerides for several days.
In addition to diet, triglyceride levels are influenced by exercise. If you've been unusually sedentary for several days before a blood test, your triglyceride levels may be higher than normal, Raidl says.
I have two Nubian goats. The hooves of one of my goats--but not the other--are growing very long. The goat doesn't seem to be in pain, but should I trim its hooves anyway? Tasha Clinton, New Plymouth
It's possible that your goat has been foundered at some time in the past, says Dr. Marie Bulgin, a veterinarian with the University of Idaho's Caine Veterinary Teaching Center.
Foundering occurs when too much carbohydrate is added to its diet--either in the form of grain or early, fast-growing grasses. The resulting acidosis tends to cause permanent damage to the horn-growing cells of the hoof, and affected hooves grow abnormally quickly and in an unusual growth pattern.
"Depending on how severe or long-lasting the acidosis was, the animal may show some degree of lameness or gait abnormality, walking on the heel of its hooves or standing with the hind feet more underneath it than the normal animal," says Bulgin. "It's the most common cause of lameness in dairy cows."
Trimming is helpful, she says, so pick up a pair of foot-trimmers for sheep and goats at a farm store and get started. Once goats have been foundered, their hooves will always grow faster, so you'll need to keep them trimmed from now on.
[READERS: Do you have a question about your home, yard or garden? Send it to HomeWise, University of Idaho Ag Communications, Moscow, ID 83844-2332 or e-mail it to homewise@uidaho.edu. Mention of proprietary products or firms does not constitute endorsement by University of Idaho Extension or imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.]