On Bug Patrol

Photo from Baltimore Sun (Jerry Jackson)

They're coming soon, if they haven't already made it to your place.  I'm talking about the Asian Stink Bugs.  Ugh!  A recent newspaper article reported that we could expect to see them in record numbers invading our homes.  So far, there is no known predator to take them out.  The best they could suggest we do was to vacuum them up and release them outdoors.  Some help, huh?

I've run across these little "cuties" before.  Let me just go on the record to say that I hate them.  They are ugly, they fly, and they tend to land on you indiscriminately no matter how loudly you shriek.  They also release a pungent odor if you crush them.  I'm not really sure how to describe the smell.  It's not really a horrible smell.....more like a cross between pine needles and disinfectant but once you've smelled it, you know to start looking for a carcass when you smell that smell.

I have NO intention of vacuuming them up.  I plan to zap them!  Yes sir, I have my handy dandy bug zapper racket in hand and I'm ready to do battle with those things, should I come across one.  It's "swat" and "stir fry" for them.  Now my hubby is much more lenient.  He tries to gather them up in a tissue and flush them down the toilet.  Personally, I'd rather not take a chance on them crawling back out of the loo as I'm sitting on the throne doing my Yahtzee game.

So we'll see how the old zapper does with these critters this fall.  My daughter reports that these bugs are all over her house down in Maryland.  So far (knock on wood) we've been pretty lucky and I've not seen more than a few in the area.  However the article did say that the peak times of infestation would be in October-December.  Double Ugh!  So, until then, it's racket at the ready, Freddie!