Just last week, I was talking with a good friend about how we don’t seem to have many pincher bugs this year. Those bugs (which probably have an official name) are those crawly things that have two little pincher-like forks on the end of them. I had not – at that moment in time – seen any in our home.
My friend, meanwhile, said she was tired of picking them up at her house. The reason this came up was that I had been complaining about the inch-long worms that have appeared around our home. They are tiny things, but there are literally hundreds of them outside our doors, on our outside walls, and – often – inside. That very morning I had removed three from the bathroom, four from the kitchen, and several from the rug in our family room.
Yuck! However, I was feeling pretty smug about not having pincher bugs. I mean, in the scheme of things, I guess little worms are better than those things.
But I jinxed my luck. The very next day, I made my morning smoothie and began to drink it while my husband enjoyed his breakfast. Suddenly, I found something very non-strawberry-like in my mouth. I spit it out into a napkin, expecting to see a strawberry leaf or a piece of plastic. It was a pincher bug!
EEE-WWW! I was grossed out to the max! So now I have both worms and pincher bugs. Super.
That very night, we went to bed as usual, with me trying hard not to remember the feel of that bug in my mouth. When we arose the next morning and went to feed the birds, the five bird feeders were all askew. Raccoons, we figured.
That evening, we decided to take the feeders inside. We looked out at them, around 7 p.m. (well before raccoon rising time), and saw a little Rascal on top of one of the feeders, eating his heart out.
I raced out with my duck-umbrella (bright red and yellow) and flapped it open and shut at him. My husband raced out with a long pole and poked him with it. Neither of these things phased him in the slightest. He crawled up on top of the beam that held all the feeders and appeared to take a little snooze.
Finally, my hubby got out the hose and forced him down and into the woods with the water. We carefully removed all the feeders and brought them inside. My husband placed a concrete block in front of the door to the little house in which we keep the birdseed bags, then sprinkled Epsom salts around the shed and the bird feeder area. Feeling we had sent the message “go away” fairly well, we went to bed.
The next morning, we found the door to the shed had been wrenched open. Not only was the bird seed attacked, but the dill and cherry tomato plants in my herb garden (many feet away from the bird feeders) had been picked over.
Now we’re seriously concerned. Clearly, we have more than one raccoon at work here. We have begun bringing the feeders in at night and have locked the birdseed in our garage. We also secured our garbage cans and put a new latch and lock on the shed door. I’ve moved my dill (what’s left of it) near the house in a pot.
This critter infestation has upset and distracted me to the point where I’ve forgotten to look where I walk. Hence, I stubbed my foot hard enough to fracture my pinky toe. Pinchers and raccoons and worms, oh my.
I am thrilled that we don’t have many stink bugs this year. We wrapped our huge patio table umbrella in black plastic last year to store away. This spring when our grandson opened it over his head to put it back in the table, he was showered with hundreds of dead stink bugs!
I haven’t seen any pincher bugs or inch-long worms. We have a yellow rose bush with dozens of beautiful roses. My favorite flower! Yesterday I went out to cut some to put in a vase and there were lots of rose beetles eating away. I looked on the internet to see what spray would kill them. Oh, it’s so simple — just mix one part hydrogen peroxide to three parts water. Viola! Dead beetles! And so I did. I sprayed profusely. They all seemed stunned. Some fell to the ground and some flew away. I waited an hour and went out to check on the bugs. All gone!
This afternoon I eagerly went out to check the rose bush. I could see one or two had crawled deep down into the blooms trying to hide. Okay, maybe these are different bugs. I went into the house and grabbed my deadly weapon. Back to the rose bush, I just kept spraying every bloom. Oh, my gosh!!! These bugs are coming out everywhere, but not alone! Almost every bug had another one mounted on it’s back! That mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water only served as an aphrodisiac!!! Now there will be millions of these ravenous pests!
The moral of the story is… don’t believe everything you read on Google search.
And another thing… these bugs were not playing a game! As a child, when I saw the old rooster on the hen’s back, I tried to knock him off because he was pulling her comb and hurting her. I was told the rooster wasn’t hurting her at all… they were just playing a game. Right.
we are fighting some carpenter bees here – got a little catcher for them and it seems to be working – only other mess is the ANTS = always working on keeping those things OUT of the house – sorry for your fighting with nature and your injury – hope you recover in both areas
much love – and thanks for the birthday gift! you are a treat!!
Happy Birthday, John! 🎈🎁
Ohhhh, I get it now. My folks were right. It is a game. The Mating Game!!! I never did claim to be a fast learner. 🙄