Story: Why do my cats love stink bugs?
TweetThey come one by one. Sometimes I find them flying around the ceiling. Most often I discover them crawling across the floor, followed by a squinty-eyed cat.
I have no idea how stink bugs get inside my house. But I’d really rather they find somewhere else to hang out. Disturb a stinker in any way, and it emits a smell that’s a cross between locker room socks and that moldy orange in the back of the fridge you didn’t know was there. If you make the mistake of touching the creature, the odor seeps into your skin—and no amount of creams, lotions or oils will completely cover it. You spend the rest of the day thinking, “What’s that smell? Oh, wait. It’s me.”
One would think that cats, whose noses are a gazillion times more sensitive than ours, would learn right quick to avoid stink bugs.
Instead, like rubber-neckers at a nasty accident, the cats can’t help but stop and watch and sniff.
And poke. I think it’s written somewhere in cat law that if you don’t know what to do with something, you poke it.
Which, in stink bug law, counts as a disturbance.
Which results in really stinky kitty paws.
So, whenever I see one of my cats sitting and staring at the floor, eyes half closed as if it will help him or her see through the smell, I know there’s a stink bug nearby.
With the help of a paper bathroom cup, I scoop up the offender and gently release it outside. (Even if you stink, you have a right to live out the rest of your life—somewhere other than inside my house.)
The cats look at me like teenagers whose smartphones have been taken away.
And then they slink off to clean their paws.
Until the next little stinker somehow finds its way into my home.
Calvin watching a stink bug. It’s possible someone has already toyed with it, as the bug is on it’s side.
Elsa Clair joins the hunt.
The poke.
Once you put your paw on it, you have to slowly lift it up to see if the bug is still there.
While Calvin looks on, Athena leans in to take a hearty sniff.
Dawn has to check it out as well.
Athena ponders the bug, now on its back. Time to rescue the creature.
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Cute pics! How funny. Guess the stinkbug network hasn’t warned all the bugs that there are curious cats at your house!
Jeez! There’s a stinkbug network? I think they must have given their pals the wrong address. My cats would toy with them endlessly if I didn’t rescue them. At least my dogs know better and stay away from the little stinkers (the bugs, not the cats.) 😉
It is exciting to look at and play with.
That’s true, but the bugs are ever so stinky! 🙂
Those are so gross. The smell seeps in and it takes forever to get rid of it. When I was little, every summer our indoor patio would get invaded.
Exactly. That smell takes a long time to go away. Nasty little bugs.
Oh no stink buggies! Watch out friends!
Found another one this morning by the bathroom sink. Within seconds, Elsa Clair was there again.
Ugh, I can’t stand stinkbugs. Of course, you can’t kill them because their revenge is vicious! I love the quick tap swat that cats do when they check something out before attacking. : )
The thing is, I know the cats don’t like the smell because they squint when they’re near a stinkbug. What I don’t understand is why they poke it anyway–and wind up with stinky paws. 🙂
This was so funny. My little Bella came up to me to get kisses and her lil peanut head smelled hoRRendous! I had to research 1. if the bugs are harmful to pets and 2. how the heck to get rid of the smell PPEEWW! any ideas?