Okay, they are Japanese Beetles. We have a tree they happen to love so at the first sign this year of beetles taking dips in our glorified kiddie pool (3 foot job, yes it is fenced in;-), I purchased bags and put one out where I had it last year.
The number of unwanted swimmers steadily declined.
Thursday morning I noticed more than usual in the water. I saw that the post holding the bag was leaning considerably more than it had previously. I shrugged assuming it was very full and headed off to work.
When I got home, after two hours in a car that I found had run out of coolant for the AC, I was ready to jump in the pool with the kids only to find more beetles. I skimmed them out, jumped in, played with the kids, and after getting out walked around to the bag to find this.
Yes, the bottom of the beetle bag gone. All the captives gone. I immediately turned to my trusted companion who appeared non challant. I knew she was guilty.
My wife and kids claim it had to be some other animal and couldn't be our beloved dog. So here is the line up:
Rabbit - Roger and Bugs meant well, but were borderline psychotic. By comparison, ours seem to be rather docile, though one was in the vicinity of the pool not too long ago.
Better known for standing in groups in our neighbors yard and taunting the dog to make one charge at them, I argued they were less inclined to hang out under the beetle trap and more likely to spend their day in the clover filled field next door.
Squirrel - Ours is pretty high-strung and may not be altogether there. It once ripped a feeder our daughter made clear off the shed, has escaped the dog as often as Wile E. Coyote has been blown up, and two weeks ago hearing a series of crashes from a nearby tree I looked up to see a branch steadily making its way to the ground. When it hit, our suspect looked left and right, spun, and shot back up the tree. My first witnessed animal blooper, I'll add.
Our squirrel is too hyper and doesn't sit still. Try as I might, I couldn't get him to pose for a picture so I found this one which is a rather like resemblance.
The Dog, Nittany Blue - While we love her and she hasn't chewed anything in the house for a long time, she is a lab mix, known to have once killed a bunny (again the girls deny it was her), has knocked two year olds over with her Shepherd thick, Lab whip tail, and she barks insanely at every passer-by, now even when they are not there.
These seemed the three most likely suspects based on their being unable to testify as to there where abouts throughout Thursday afternoon. Heck the squirrel can't even remember where he put his nuts five minutes ago, how can we expect him to account for his whereabouts, plus there is that mild concussion he is recovering from.
We also considered our feathered friends. Ours aren't too smart. This one thought an outdoor ceiling fans was a good place for a nest, we crossed him off the list.
The crows are a different story. They would definitely be into picking a bag apart, but it seems to me they would have flown off with the whole thing.
We've also cleared the goldfish. Not only was the bite radius inconsistent with that of a goldfish, it was simply too great a distance from the ponds to the bag and they never could have held their breath that long.
So you decide, which of our furry friends had beetles for lunch on Thursday - Rabbit, Squirrel, or Dog?
Have a great weekend and thanks for taking a sip of NewsOverCoffee:-)
4 comments:
Ross--
First, please tell me you didnt name that cute dog after Penn State? uhhhhh...If that was the route, a name like Fighting Dog or Luck of the Irish would have been much better ;)
Second, no way the dog did it. Labs are usually pretty lazy animals (well mine are anyway) and that would have required way too much work in the heat.
Down to the last two, im going with the rabbit. It was a close call, but thats my guess. My only advice is to capture all three of them, and interrogate until one of them breaks down..
good luck!! and hopefully the beatle problem goes away. Is it just me or have bugs become worse and worse the last few years? Im being told its because the winters arent as cold, but who knows. Its always something!
Last year we had beatles so bad they literally destroyed my flowers and dogwood. This spring we put grub control on the grass and (knock on wood) I've only seen a few. The difference is unbelievable!! It might be worth a try for you!
Well, I went to Arizona and we had a wildcat named wilbur - both duds for dog naming.
My wife had seen a story on a player naming his dog Nittany and always liked it.
Our daughter was two when we got her and into Blues Clues, so the middle name became blue.
Last summer said daughter and my wife did go to the Notre Dame vs. PSU game and found it to be quite enjoyable;-)
We definitely noticed alot more bugs this year, ants and flying ants especially.
I try not to put too much down with the dog and kids but decided to finally put some bug killer down (which was safe for animals and killed tics - extra benefit).
The dog is getting older now and has had a bit of gimp of late, but when she's looking better I'll have to have her grab the rabbit and see what kind of a confession can be made - kind of like a backyard version of the inquisition;-)
Best news - we were quite sure the kids didn't do it!
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Oh, that bunny is SO cute!!! Surely not the bun... But I guess if you need to interrogate, maybe avoid the waterboarding. Cute can go a long way...
;)
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