The stink bugs have just been invading our home. I am ready to either start passing out clothespins for our noses or invest in stock for air freshener. The annoying buzzing sound they make as they fly over our heads while we watch television is annoying. They seem to prefer the Disney Channel and get excited whenever there is a Halloween commercial.
Our friendly neighborhood exterminator shakes his head sadly and reminds us that he said there would be a major invasion this year. One of my husband’s co-workers returned home one day to find a buzzing carpet on the outside of their garage door. She is enjoying room service at the nearby hotel.
Although annoying, stink bugs aren’t harmful, to humans that is. They do decimate crops and cause financial strain. They attacked the pick your own raspberry bushes at our local CSA, leaving us raspberry pie-less.
Stink bugs do bite, and although your finger won’t fall off, it will feel like a needle. They use this same needle like apparatus to suck the life out of fruit and vegetables.
While there are a few pesticides out there that seem to work, the problem is that they break down in sunlight and can’t be used indoors. So, they may work well for that buzzing carpet, they won’t prevent new stink bugs from coming in after the old.
The best way to deal with them is to try to keep your house as sealed as possible. Caulk around windows and doors, and fill cracks around chimneys. Otherwise, be prepared to live with several stink bugs at a time. In our old home, we have started naming them–all beginning with the letter J. We have about 19 and counting now.
When dealing with stink bugs, my favorite method is to flush them down the toilet. Other have tried the vacuum cleaner method, but the risk of squashing them is too great. A squashed stinkbug is a stinky stink bug.