A guest post from Stu the Stink Bug

I'm baaaack! 

Did you miss me? Wait... I know the answer. I'm not your favorite bug; I know. But can you blame me for wanting to take up residence in your house? I may be a stink bug, but I have standards. Would YOU want to spend the winter underneath a stinky, rotting stump? Yeah, I didn't think so.

So once my internal alarm clock has gone off and I've awakened from my hibernation spot in the attic, I sometimes get a little seasonally confused because it's not always warm enough to leave the house. So I like to take a little time to explore my surroundings. It can be weeks until there's enough food outside to eat, so in the meantime, I'm going to check out the house... this place is like Disneyland! 

You may wonder why you see me in so many different places -- the shower, the kitchen, the dinner table, the bedroom, the family room. It's quite simple, actually; I usually find my way down from the attic through a vent or light fixture -- or, I might just fall down when the attic door is opened under me (oops!). I like to follow the heat... it reminds me of what it was like in the summer, when I was footloose and fancy free! 

I really don't mean to get in your hair... really. The truth is, I don't like to be around humans too much. It makes me feel threatened when they get too close. And when I feel threatened, well... that's when you find out how we stink bugs get our name. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not drawing ten more of my buddies when I stink-bomb you. It actually encourages them to stay away!

You're probably wondering when you'll be free of me. It'll be soon; I promise. I'll be going outside once the trees leaf out and the veggies in the garden are planted. I just love the Great Outdoors -- it's where stink bugs like me thrive and grow in numbers. Once I escape the house, I'll likely head to the nearest lush tree I can find so I can begin eating and cruising for mates. We stink bugs are quite prolific at growing big families, fast. I'll bet you didn't know that a single female stink bug can lay up to 400 eggs over the summer. I can't wait to have hundreds of little stinkers crawling around. We'll be on the lookout for a healthy vegetable garden with tomatoes, peppers and the like... 400 baby stink bugs means a lot of probosci to feed! 

Looking ahead, once summer is over, we'll all be looking for another nice house to spend the winter... preferably with a lot of nooks and crannies where we can hibernate undisturbed. 

It's not such a bad life, being a stink bug... as long as you can stay away from the folks at RESCUE! who are out to get us!

Happy Spring, and I'll see ya around!

(Editor's note: For more info about Stu and the best way to fight back against stink bugs, check out www.stinkbugsmackdown.com.)