Plague on your house

Moths did not figure among the Ten Plagues of Egypt. Frogs, yes, and boils, which can scarcely have been pleasant. But if Pharaoh had been confronted with a thick flock of clothes moths in full mothsome flight he would surely have let the Children of Israel free before you could say Ra, with a packet of sandwiches for the journey. Moths are trouble.

So it was not without risk that, as we report today, Valerie Cappell, in building for her family a house of great environmental friendliness, decided to insulate its walls with a good thick layer of wool. The moths were hardly to blame for thinking that a lovely warm habitat had been provided especially for them. They made the most of it. This is when the environmental friendliness broke down, at least in the lepidopteral direction. Once the vanguard began to burst out of the wall and then sent word for reinforcements, it was war. At any cost, the insects had to be defeated. Those moths had turned out to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.