It’s true. I can’t hide it anymore. Come into my living room for a moment and let me show you something:
Let’s move in a little closer.
You might see some neglect of the cacti on the left there, otherwise, just an average, everyday houseplant arrangement. Step in closer now. And prepare yourself.
Do you see him there? Look closely in the center. Let me help you.
There he is. The fugitive. I call him “Stu.” My research tells me that he’s a box elder beetle. Usually travels in packs of ten to 1,404. Stu’s a loner, though. I found him outside. He was in the aloe plant as fall started approaching. I put him under the shelter to avoid him drowning from all the rains we were having and waited for him to leave before I brought the plants inside for the winter. But he didn’t. Stu didn’t leave. He stayed. And I didn’t have the heart to boot him out. Now he lives in the plants in the living room, biding his time before he can get outside and eat the seeds of our little maple tree. He hasn’t caused any problems thus far. DadFOD gets nervous when he sees him but momFOD has acted as my accomplice and allowed me to continue stowing him in the plants until he decides it’s time to vacate the premises.
Now you know. You know my secret. Don’t judge me. And don’t tell any of the other cats. Viva Stu.
Love,
Crepes.
[…] wanted to give you a quick update on Stu, for those of you who are following his story. MomFOD found a boxelder beetle living in her aloe plant. She brought the plants inside before the […]
We get lots of those in the beginning of the fall. Too many to let them stay here. Think my kitties would get him too. He is hiding pretty good on there.
Sue B
How can you be so sure it’s a “Stu”? What if it’s a “Sue”? I grew up with these here box elder bugs. They plot. They connive. They plan. You may think you have just one, but Stu/Sue is planning how to get the rest of the family into the walls. Trust me on this. And the next thing you know, the cat leaps on you at 2 a.m. because she’s chasing Stu/Sue through the bedroom. Okay, the cat probably leaps on you at 2 a.m. anyway because she’s chasing her sister, but box elder bugs will survive most anything. If we ever destroyed ourselves via an atomic bomb, what would be left are roaches, box elder bugs, rhubarb plants and Cheez Wiz.
We would try to play with Stu. Does he like to play? Have you tried yet?
Mew and MomFod are brave, my MomFod jumped looking at the picture and shivers at the thought of him in our house! I’m not scared of him, but I wouldn’t try to catch or eat him as bugs bore me. I have been known to walk right past them as my MomFOD screams, begging me to catch it. The nerve- as if I’M here to serve HER or something!!
We won’t tell anybody. But we would probably knock the whole shelf down trying to catch him and eat him ourselves if he was at our house!
you are so silly! We promise we won’t say a word! Love, Cody
Stu would not last two minutes at our house. He’d be a midnight snack for Odin!