Stink Bug-a-Phobia and perfect irony.

Yeah, that's me, Chicken Little...I knew these things were bad news...there were too many of them and they stink when you kill them, plus no known predators...who has no known predators ?

I kept saying last year, this is not good.

I was whipped into entomological submission by google searches, and experts in the media...
"they are innocuous, they cause no harm, they're like lady bugs, don’t kill them it causes stink, just ignore them".

So last year, when I saw a small invasion inside my house, I basically relocated them outside and ignored them...I tried to view them as lady bugs, who actually have a good purpose in the garden in eating aphids...but their crusty shield like bodies just didn't seem non-threatening like our orange spotted friends. Something in the back of mind was telling me "This just stinks".

Now this year, we come to find out, the stink bug is decimating the apple crops in several states and it's worse than before...they make the dog puke when she eats one (that's been a bed of roses to deal with) and I spend the better part of sunny afternoons killing and disposing of these invaders...and cursing my own insectal wussification that allowed me to not aggressively get rid of those bugs last year.

I should have followed my instincts and eradicated them with abandon last year, not giving them a chance to get a foothold in my yard, my home, my life.

The whole time we've had major clues as to their mission...they are shaped like shields, they stink, they eat cash crops, and nothing wants to attack them for fear of the stink.

We sat around and watched it happened with our eyes wide open....

So I'm hoping not much damage has been done, and we can get rid of these things, and next time, next time when something doesn't SMELL right, let's use the history of this, and do something about it from the start, and don't be bullied by an inaccurate media.

In a twist of unromantic irony, turns out chickens will eat stink bugs....so my role as Chicken Little has greater meaning after all, the perfectness is not lost on this little chicken.

.....