(edit: added new pics in 092510 post)(052111 - added new article in post at end & a comment at bottom of this post).
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If you don't have them yet, you probably will - brown marmorated stink bugs.
Here's a pic of one that posed for me the other day:
.... and here's an article on the beasts. Apparently we have the good fortune of being within a few miles (~30-40) of ground zero.
If you're not familiar with them - they fly somewhat like a miniature winged bowling ball and have the endearing habit of sneaking into your house en masse in the fall. If you pick one up roughly (or if it's 'in the mood') - it sprays you with a foul odor that is difficult to wash off. If you squash it, you are treated to the same odor (in a wonderful, lasting way...). Once they're in your house, they find a nice dark crevice in which to spend the winter - like your shoes, shirt pockets in your closet, inside your socks in your sock drawer ... If you have hot water baseboard heat, as we do, they love to squeeze in between the fins of the baseboard heaters. On the 1st cold day, when your furnace fires up, they get uncomfortably warm - so they spray their odorant - and just like those plug-in air fresheners - the convection currents from the baseboard heater carry that wonderful smell far & wide. Good luck with finding the critter that caused that small - and it wouldn't matter (even if you could locate him) since he's now cooked. However, these bugs are not well synchronized with their spring emergence so you can expect to see them coming out in singles & pairs all winter long. On somewhat warmer days - they'll come out to visit in the 5's & 10's...
We just brought in Christmas decorations from the garage. There were ~12 in the box with the tree stand.** I can't wait to sort through the boxes of lights & ornaments ...
I could keep going for quite some time sharing little anecdotes about our newfound 'friends' (or pets?) - but I'll stop now. For those who have the pleasure of the Asian ladybugs - these guys are over 100 times worse....
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** - saw this comment and laughed out loud. This past Christmas (Dec 2010), I took down the same treestand from the same place in the garage and had more than triple that number under each flap on the cardboard box. I stopped counting at over one hundred ...
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If you don't have them yet, you probably will - brown marmorated stink bugs.
Here's a pic of one that posed for me the other day:
.... and here's an article on the beasts. Apparently we have the good fortune of being within a few miles (~30-40) of ground zero.
If you're not familiar with them - they fly somewhat like a miniature winged bowling ball and have the endearing habit of sneaking into your house en masse in the fall. If you pick one up roughly (or if it's 'in the mood') - it sprays you with a foul odor that is difficult to wash off. If you squash it, you are treated to the same odor (in a wonderful, lasting way...). Once they're in your house, they find a nice dark crevice in which to spend the winter - like your shoes, shirt pockets in your closet, inside your socks in your sock drawer ... If you have hot water baseboard heat, as we do, they love to squeeze in between the fins of the baseboard heaters. On the 1st cold day, when your furnace fires up, they get uncomfortably warm - so they spray their odorant - and just like those plug-in air fresheners - the convection currents from the baseboard heater carry that wonderful smell far & wide. Good luck with finding the critter that caused that small - and it wouldn't matter (even if you could locate him) since he's now cooked. However, these bugs are not well synchronized with their spring emergence so you can expect to see them coming out in singles & pairs all winter long. On somewhat warmer days - they'll come out to visit in the 5's & 10's...
We just brought in Christmas decorations from the garage. There were ~12 in the box with the tree stand.** I can't wait to sort through the boxes of lights & ornaments ...
I could keep going for quite some time sharing little anecdotes about our newfound 'friends' (or pets?) - but I'll stop now. For those who have the pleasure of the Asian ladybugs - these guys are over 100 times worse....
----------------------------------------------------------------
** - saw this comment and laughed out loud. This past Christmas (Dec 2010), I took down the same treestand from the same place in the garage and had more than triple that number under each flap on the cardboard box. I stopped counting at over one hundred ...
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