Ladybugs

                  

                                       Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home;
                                Your house is on fire, your children all gone

 

                                           

A few years ago we had a warm spell near the end of October and some how my house was flooded with lady bugs.  I don't mean a couple, I mean a ton, hundreds.  Most were between my windows but several dozen got in the house.  I know lady bugs are supposed to be good luck, but it grossed me out.  At first I tried to save them, but there were way to many and :::hanging head::: I ended up vacuuming them up.  The backside of my house was almost completely covered with them.  I did some research and apparently they are hard to get rid of, and it's very costly.  They leave a residue of sorts that just keeps attracting others to join in and repels any other creature from eating them.  Once the weather got cold they were gone again, after a few weeks my house was rid of them too.  

Yesterday and this morning we had some warm weather.  As I was outside at work yesterday afternoon I noticed a few dozen flying around and crawling on the walls and ground.  My thoughts went immediately to my house.  'Oh no, not again!'  I lucked out (no pun intended) as I didn't have them at my house, yet this morning at work it appeared that they multiplied by the thousands.  They were all over!  Within a couple of hours the temperature dropped by at least 20 degrees and lady bugs do not fly when it gets below 50.  So you guessed it, there they were trapped all over with no way out, or should I say up.  It wasn't for lack of trying early on as you could see them attempt to take to the air but their little wings just fluttered and they crawled around.  I went outside about 3 and to my horror they were still there, but not one moved.  I am not sure if they had died or went into hibernation mode but there they were laying still all over.  I felt horrible for them.  What a cruel trick mother nature had played on one of her creatures. Surely it is a way to keep them 'in check' and not over populate, but it was heart wrenching seeing thousands stranded in the cold.