War on Japanese Beetles

Last month I realized I had a major enemy: the Japanese beetle. Turns out I'm not the only gardener suffering  this summer from the onslaught of these little carapace-bearing monsters; Dick & Jane's plants were also afflicted.

While I've been trying to spray my plants with some sort of death-to-all-beetles chemicals, D&J went the organic route and put up a Japanese beetle trap. Evidently the dreadful bugs are attracted to pheromones and head into the trap to investigate, where they then remain trapped until Dick dumps them all into a freezer bag.


That's right, when the pheromone trap gets full, he puts all the living bugs into a heavy-duty Ziploc baggie and lays them out in the sun, where the greenhouse effect kills them within minutes. Die, you nasty bugs, DIE!!!

Sorry.

I don't like seeing any animal suffer...but there is a very, VERY warm & fuzzy feeling that washes over me at the demise of these hideous beetles that wreak so much havoc on my lovely deck garden. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about said feeling.

My neighbors realize my fascination with the abomination because now they've started calling me when they empty the trap: "we're killing another bag of beetles!" So I hurry over to watch the little suckers writhe and squirm 'til their demise.

Did I mention I do NOT like Japanese beetles?

Oh, and while I'm over in their "lawn," I just happen to hang out and invariably a Yappy Hour ensues. The dogs chew on sticks, chase tennis balls and in general entertain us (as the bugs lay dying. Faulkner, anyone?).


Little Coyote Bait has decided he doesn't want to drink out of the water bowl anymore; he prefers climbing up on the fountain to get a drink. He's a weird little dog.

Many times there are drinks involved over at Dick & Jane's; the most popular drinks-on-the-house are mimosas and bloody marys. Of course, on a hot day there's nothing like a cold, refreshing adult beverage to cool you off...and even the dogs benefit: we give them the leftover ice cubes, which they greedily gobble up.

Long story longer: I'm glad Dick & Jane have declared war on the evil Japanese beetle population in St. Paul. Not that I needed another excuse to wander over, but, you know...