No, it’s not a new Stephen King book and it’s not a horror movie but it should be and it could be filmed in my house. Do any of you have a problem with stink bugs? For the past few years, this area has been invaded by what I now know to be …ready for this – the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug and he looks like this:
Now I’ve been doing some research about how to get rid of them and there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. For some reason I started doing searches and typed in “prehistoric looking bugs” – guess what I found? Yeah, STINK BUGS!
It seems there’s no living creature that will eat these things. When it starts to get cold, they look for a nice warm place for the winter so they cover the screens with the intent of moving into my bedroom. During the day I walk around with my spray bottle of Windex squirting them like the father spritzing everybody in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I don’t know that it kills them, but it gets them off the screens and makes me happy. At night though, I go on a search and destroy mission with my box of Kleenex trying to get all of the creeps hanging out on the backs of my drapes and shades. Problem is, even if you’re careful not to squish them, they know you’re coming and spray, leaving a stink bug stink hovering in the air for a while even after they’ve been flushed. Maybe I have a vivid imagination, but I’m picturing all these thousands of stink bugs in my septic tank, growing, multiplying until one day they blow the lid off the tank and come crawling out. I’ve thought of using the vacuum cleaner but I couldn’t sleep at night knowing they’re sitting in there waiting for me to go to sleep before creeping down the hose to get me.
And don’t tell me to sic Moe on them – they horrify him! It never fails that after my stink bug reconnaissance, just as I get settled in bed and start reading I hear that bzzzzzt. Moe goes shooting off the bed, but he’s not stupid. He’ll point them out to me but stay at least a foot away while I get them. So if any of you have these nasty things and have some clever solution to getting rid of them, please let me know. If not, thanks for letting me vent. I feel better already and it’s Friday, so enjoy a Moe-Ment of Zen (turn up the volume)…
Photographs and recipes 
Love the description of your fears about the septic tank and the vacuum cleaner. I always thought that about bugs people vacuumed up. Creepy!
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So I’m not the only one with the Stephen King imagination? Plus at some point, even if they don’t come out of the vacuum, you still have to open it up to take the bag out.
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Yes, they get into my house as well. I even have a second species that has a longer body. I do have a way of getting rid of them…my husband. LOL.
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I’m with you, Diane. I hate them. We have them here too. Where do they come from… now, really? Do they need to exist? Every time I close a window screen, one comes falling down. You need to train Moe to go after them.
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I don’t think we need them & there’s nothing alive that will eat them so they’re not part of any food chain that I know of.
Train Moe? Are you crazy? He’ll point them out to me, but he won’t go near them.
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LOL,, funny kitty.
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Funny, but not all the helpful. He is a little wise guy though & is always getting poor Lola in trouble just like little brothers do.
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Yes! Stink bugs were an epidemic here last year…..they were all over the patio….the screens…everywhere. I’ve never heard of anyone with a very good way to get rid of them. I think that our local news “animal” guy even said that — that there’s like nothing you can do with them. Bailey avoids them as well. He’ll play with most bugs…flies make him nutty as he chases them around the kitchen…but NOT stink bugs. Go figure. Guess it’s the stink. Duh.
Love Moe’s video — at the end there, is he trying to leap at your FACE? He looks like he’s getting ready to climb you!
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Well Bailey’s no dummy & I read that they know when danger’s approaching & squirt their liquid out their abdomen even before you touch them. They don’t like Windex but I doubt it’s killing them.
Oh Moe was being Moe. He’s always been a little wisenheimer & loves hiding under things, then taking swipes at us when we go by. His favorite when he was a kitten was under my dresser which only has about a 3″ clearance. I was watching Lola walking back & forth there trying to figure out what kept snagging her legs but of course Moe would scoot back so you couldn’t see him. In the video I saw him go under the comforter so got my little Flip Camera & was teasing him pulling up the blanket. I could see him winding his little ass up but didn’t realize the camera strap was dangling & that’s what he was aiming for – not to say he hasn’t smacked me in the face before. Brat.
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I love Moe!
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I do too, but some mornings I’d like to stuff him in a pillow case! These crisp mornings get the 2 of them all cranked up and they start flying around here chasing each other starting at about 6:00 am. and somehow my body always gets in the middle of things.
Lola was all bouncy this morning & rocking the car with her bouncing in the back seat. Until she realized we were headed to the groomer – then things got very quiet back there.
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OMG – I HATE stink bugs!!! I used to be petrified of them, but am slowly becoming immune to them. You may have noticed that they are attracted to your lamp at night (or any light, like a tv), so if you read, they will come straight for it…ARRGGG!!!
I do know what kills them though and it has been purely through trial and error – flea and tick spray. I hate their name too – it’s too much like “marinated” and that smell – ugh!!!! BLECH!!!!
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I was horrified by the way they looked & that buzzing they make – thought it was a bee at first. Now, Moe points them out for me (the one’s that yes, do come right at me when I’m reading) & I get to grab & flush. I’ll have to see how the flea & tick spray works. Someone sent me a Youtube about a trap you can make which uses that idea of light attraction. All you need is a 2 liter Pepsi bottle, black tape & a small $5 LED light to put in the bottom. Then someone told me that we’re also now getting pumpkin bugs – whoever heard of pumpkin bugs? Better question – who needs either of these prehistoric looking creatures.
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