By Heather
Have you heard about the stink bug invasion? It’s all over
the news. The media has picked up on this creepy-crawly assault, and is spreading the word of it far and wide.
Ordinarily, I’d roll my eyes at such an over-hyped news piece,
but this week I've had the (dis)pleasure of being up close and personal to
these little critters, and I’m ready to believe the press.
 |
| Ew, ew, and more ew. |
Every last stinking bit of it.
Okay, so my house isn't really under a full-fledged attack. Not yet at
least, but I've seen more stink bugs in the past week than I ever have before
in my whole life. They try to blend in with their speckled little camouflaged
bodies, but they stick out on the light garage walls. I had to “relocate” three
of them just today. Trust me, you don’t want to squish them (they have the name "stink bug" for a reason).
The most popular way to get rid of the bugs is to vacuum them up and relocate them, and the other
idea I've seen mentioned a couple of times is using a mixture of Dawn and water to spray
on them—it suffocates the little suckers or something (but can apparently be
messy). Not much else works (that I know of--do you have ideas?).
For now I'm okay with relocating the buggers and not issuing
death sentences. But all bets are off if they start migrating into the house.
Have stink bugs invaded your area?
19 comments:
We have scads of them here in SW Ohio, along with a bizillion grasshoppers! I think they go together! So far, none in the house, but they do like to hang on the screen doors...we brush them off..send them to a better place than the door! But, they are on the walls of the garages...sheds....I think, the super wet Spring, and then the SUPER HOT end of Summer / drought, we had- makes a difference. Look on the bright side, a first frost is not far away...What we have had TONS of, are caterpillars! Pick a color!! Black woolies, brown woolies, yellow woolies, and even a light green woolie! Nature is preparing for something, and she ain't sharing the secret just yet!!!!
The bad thing about these stink bugs is they will over winter (alive) in your garage/shed and then come out in the spring to multiply (at least here in the Atlanta area.) How do I know....they are everywhere at the community garden a mile from my house and it was quite a disgusting shock to move something during the winter and there they were.
I've never had them here at the house before but I've killed 3 of them recently. NOT in the house but outside. I have found several on the screen door in the garage. I relocate them outside and then smash them. I don't like smashing bugs but I also really don't want those bugs replicating and overwintering.in my garage. Catch them in a jar, move them, smash them if you don't want to smash them too near the house. Or catch them in a jar and dump them in another jar with soapy water and a lid. They WILL fly.....
Personally, I'm hoping for a mild winter. :) Probably too much to ask considering the mild summer we had.
Fly? OMG. :::thud:::
They are everywhere here in Knoxville, Tn. Inside and out of the house. They hang out on the screen doors and when you open the door, in they come. It is really bad, because my Maine Coon kitty thinks they make great play things. Which made me found out quickly why they are called Stink Bugs! And they do winter over, so not looking to good.
They fly all over our house. I can hear them before I see them. When you are rocking your newborn in the dark it is freaky to hear. We kill around 4 to 6 a day in our house. They are hard to vacuum. They stick really will to the wall if they want. Luckily they don't fly off often when squashing. I'm completely over them at this point.
Ugh. They need to just go away.
:::shudder:::
The ones I capture in the house (with tissues) go for a big swim. Outdoors I have witnessed Blue Jays snacking on these stinkers right off the screens and stucco! Bring on the Blue Jays! We had these bugs indoors over the winter and caught them in a dark room with the tv on... then swirly time! We are in Mid Ohio.
Farmers Almanac report says we are in for a bad winter...which we need to kill off some of these critters. If Wyoming and South Dakota are any indication so far....
Ant and roach Raid seems to work if you use enough of it. Also messy, though.
Yep- bad winter coming...all of Oct is to be rain! First snow is to be around Thanksgiving, in SW Ohio..we do need a hard winter tho- to kill off things...2 yrs ago was WAY too mild, and there were bugs of all kinds, everywhere...even the microscopic ones...mild winters bring more flu, hard winters, less....fingers crossed is all we can do, huh?!
We have had them in Pennsylvania for 3 years now. Each bug can reproduce up to 400 other bugs. I kill everyone I see. Putting them outside just gives them a chance to multiply. They crawl in the smallest holes and hide over the winter in your house. I have killed up to 10 a night. Light attracts them. Absolutely nothing but squashing them works to kill them.
I am so glad I have never seen them here in Holland. If you are brave enough to catch them, would flushing them through the toilet not work? How big are they (in centimeters)?
Ugh!!!!!
The big swim. LOL. Love that. We're SW Ohio, and have lots of blue jays around. They need to get to work.
I don't like using that in the house, but I will if I have to! Thanks, Kaye.
I'm going to have nightmares.
They're not that big, Aurian. Maybe the size of a small roach (I don't have a ruler handy for cm size!). And you're lucky you don't have them!
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