Just when I thought I had 'em all out.....they find their way back in!
This morning while reading the editorial pages of The Star-Ledger- ironically, the op-ed piece that Joe Scarborough wrote about Sarah Palin that I commented on in my last blog entry- I felt something buzz past my left ear. And I knew they were back, and I had failed.
The previous Sunday I bought an eight pack of Hot Shot Indoor Fogger at Home Depot, and proceeded to bomb the garage and the basement, using two cans in the garage in my vain attempt to stop the invasion of the latest peril from the Far East.
We've been told ad nauseum that in a few years the Chinese economy will exceed that of the United States. I'm no economist, but I do know this.....an invasion from China has already begun. And New Jersey is one of the first places to be conquered.
Because the ugly, disgusting, and prehistoric looking Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, a species that hitched a ride from China to Allentown, PA in 1996 has been a constant (and unwelcome) visitor in my home for months now. And I've been lucky....I'm only finding maybe one or two a day. Many New Jerseyans are finding dozens of the little guys in their houses and apartments everyday. And during autumn the situation only seems to get worse; the stinkers try to get into homes before the onset of winter, when they become dormant.
They are so named because of the foul odor they give off when they are squished; and consequently they have few natural enemies. Birds don't mess with them, and only certain spiders, wasps, and mantises will eat them; and for the most part, they're dormant at this time of the year.
Last week I shot a can of a generic "flying insect bomb" directly at a stinker as he walked across the wall in the family room; I sprayed for five seconds...ten seconds...15 seconds.....he was still moving! Eventually he fell to the floor, I picked him up in a tissue and sent him for swimming lessons in my septic tank- maybe he's like Rasputin, and should have been shot a couple of times just to make sure he was a goner.
Yes, the little guys are harder to kill than Freddy Krueger, Jason, or Dracula combined. The website Ask The Exterminator says a professional exterior treatment with Talstar Pro may help to keep the stinkers away, but the best way to prevent a home invasion of these guys is to make sure doors and windows are sealed. Over the summer I found some stinkers trying to get in the house through the window mounted air conditioners; when I took them down at the end of the season the problem in the affected rooms ceased.
There has been some research done at universities as far as developing traps for the stink bug, but so far none has proven to be effective. And they may soon become more than a household pest; because of their diet, stinkers may become a very real agricultural problem as their numbers become larger and their range grows.
Some bits of good news are that stink bugs won't reproduce in homes, and that the invasions usually stop during the winter months; they head for cover until spring when the cycle starts all over again. They usually eat fruits, veggies, and plant life, and cause no damage to home exteriors or interiors.
And I know...."stink bugs"...."New Jersey".....yeah, let the jokes begin.
Let me be the first one- "Don't kill that stink bug! He's our state bird!".
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