When Surrounded by Nature, We Must Have a Little Give-and-Take!
Dear Fellow Earthlings, Here in Oregon in late October my house out in the woods is being overwhelmed by two types of bugs. I do not know what they are called, but they appear in such great numbers that I have had to use my vacuum cleaner to get rid of them on a daily basis. Many people's reaction would be to spray chemicals on the creatures. But mine is to get rid of them using the vacuum cleaner. I do not want to fill my home with chemicals. The creatures do not smell bad. Nor do they bite. Unlike termites, they do not consume wood. Therefore, so long as they do not actually enter my house or congregate on the decks on its outside, I will refrain from spraying chemicals on them. Occasionally, I feel the gentle flutter of their wings when they land on my hair, clothing or
extremities, but they are not dangerous. So I will just try to do some research on them. I would
prefer that they not appear in my home. After all, there IS plenty of space on my land other than my house itself for them to go through their life cycles! The deer that live on my property present a similar type of situation. They love to enter my orchard and nibble on the leaves of my pear trees -- which can lead to the trees' deaths. Therefore, I will be putting up a higher, stronger fence to keep the deer out of the orchard. I do not wish to kill either the bugs that wish to live in my house with me nor the deer that wish to
make my pear trees part of their vegetation buffet. I will go out of my way to avoid harming the bugs and deer. However, I will make efforts to limit the areas of my property that are accessible to them. Steve Walker
Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
These two different species are the main subjects of today's blog. That's a toothbrush next to them, placed there so that you can get an idea of their size.
Here is a small gathering just outside the back door to my house. If not for my vacuuming 10 minutes prior to my taking this photo, there would be HUNDREDS of the creatures in it!
One of my deer-predated pear trees: You can see that all of the lower leave of the beleaguered plant have been consumed completely.
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.