When the stinkbugs came to Maryland 2 years ago, our house was assaulted. I thought that they were coming in when we'd open the back door to let the dogs in. And they were; we'd have to wipe down the door every time it opened.
Unfortunately for us, the problem isn't limited to that and to make things worse, last year, the assault intensified from the first year of stinkbugs. I heard somewhere that stinkbugs like soybeans, and that was the crop planted in the field behind us last year (planned rotation: one year corn, the next year soybeans). At one point in the fall, the weekend before Elektra's birthday party, the house siding looked like it was alive because it was crawling with so many stinkbugs. It was so gross.
To boot, we were catching at least 15-20 of those buggers a day inside the house. When we started finding them in the master bathroom, it became clear that their entry point was through the fan because when we'd turn it on, you could hear them getting rattled and crushed by the fan blades. So we left the fan on 24x7, and that seemed to slow their direct entry. My thought is... If they can get through the gauntlet, then they deserve to be flushed down the toilet!
The fan vents directly to the outside, not the attic, and the "bug guard" is NOT stinkbug proof!!! I watched them crawl in during the summer because the outbound "breeze" isn't strong enough to keep anything but gnats and flies out. Fantastic.
We also found them regularly in the kitchen. They would receive either a flushing or a garbage disposal treatment. That's when I figured they are in our attic.
We would also find them in our living room... And garage... The only place we didn't find them is in the bedrooms, thankfully. However, the window screens do not keep them from getting between the window pane and the screen!!
For once in my life, I couldn't wait for the first frost to kill them!!! The first, second and third frosts came and went, and there seemed to be no sign of the invasion slowing down. In fact if anything, it got worse because clearly they were looking for a warm place to go.
&$@(%#*{ !!!!!!!!!!!!
Then we got our fireplace fixed in January and that is when we found out how they were getting into the living room..... The stench of burning stinkbug nearly drove us out of the house for three days, and this was AFTER the fireplace tech had vacuumed it!!! Noxious.... Absolutely noxious stench!
Stinkbugs, when it gets cold, don't die. They hibernate. And they decided to hibernate in our chimney, in our attic, and in our master bathroom fan venting.
Over the last few days, I have been on the war path to find the holes and plug them to keep stinkbugs out of our living space. I can't do anything about the chimney without creating a carbon monoxide hazard, so I will always have that issue. I don't know how much I can do about the attic; I have to go up there and look at all the eves to see if the screening is sufficient.
However, I can fix the bathroom fan problem! I borrowed a tall ladder from our neighbors today, unscrewed the "bug guard", and screeched in horror as hundreds of stinkbugs fell out from around the edges and from inside the venting. It was so gross!!!!!!!!!!! What's even more disgusting is that about half of them were still alive!! Ugh!!! But it explains why we have had to keep our fan on all winter, too!
I cleaned out the bugs I could find/reach, and then added screening to the outside. I know it reduces the airflow, but it's the price we are going to have to pay!! I screwed it back in, but I am going to have to add a significant amount of caulk around the edges to make sure it is stinkbug proof for a few years. Those little suckers can get pretty flat and can wedge themselves into locations that you never dreamed!
We also opened the bay windows in the kitchen, and found at least another 20 live ones wedged in between the top of the window frame and the frame itself. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out HOW the are worming their way into the house through what looks to me to be a tight seal!!
I've also ordered a trap... Yes, a trap. I ordered it from http://www.stinkbugtrapsonline.com/. The guy is a do-it-yourself-inventor, and I figured I can put this in my attic to see if it works. At this point. I'm game to try almost anything, and this has gotten some good reviews and press. He can't build them fast enough and fully refunds money if dissatisfied. What do I have to lose?
I can't kill them at their source, but I'm not going to sit back and let them invade my home anymore!! I won't win because they will always get in, but I can at least slow the stinkbug parade down to a trickle instead of a 10-20 a day!!!
I am so done with them!!!
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