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| TROUBLE BREWING? |
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Anything dealing with plumbing causes the most problems because the outer Cape is a sand bar in the
middle of nowhere, surrounded by water(salt water), and our plumbing is designed for our rural
area. It's really pretty simple, but until you know the way it works, it does no good
to describe the problems that can develop.
Water comes from a well. Every place has its own well, which
has an electric pump to pull the water to the level of
the cottage. There are a couple of kinds of wells
and pumps, but basically they do the same thing...draw water from the ground to
the cottage like a drinking straw in a glass of water. The
glass is the source; the straw is the well; the
suction of drinking is provided by the pump.
At the foot of the well is a flapper called a "check valve". When the pump draws the
water, the valve is pulled open. When the pump shuts off, the
valve falls closed, preventing the water from sliding back down out of the well. This remaining water is the "prime". If a well loses its prime,
which is its link to the pump, the pump can run forever, but it will NOT draw
water. It will heat up and possibly burn out. This happens VERY RARELY and you are not likely to encounter it
unless some special event occurs. A severe thunderstorm that strikes the ground in the
neighborhood can, on occasion, flip the flapper while the pump is not running,
allowing the water to recede. After a lengthy power failure (such as after a hurricane or if the cottage was closed all winter) which does not allow the pump to run occasionally,
the prime can trickle out. Because water is stored in a tank for immediate use, you may not notice
that this has happened until the tank water is used up. If you have access to the
cellar and can find the pump and its switch, you should feel the pump and if it
is VERY HOT turn off the switch and call for help. We do not suggest that you reach out and lay
your hand on the pump; approach it as the hot object it may be. But the chances you need to deal with this are slim to none; I just couldn't explain the
system without mentioning it.
Another thing that you probably will not ever encounter is a water
pressure problem. The storage tank I mentioned (which is NOT the same
as the hot water heater) is between the pump and the pipe
that carries water to the rest of the cottage. It
is pressurized. Air is pumped into it just like into a tire, and that air rises above the water
level. When there is water in the tank, the air pressure measures about
40 pounds per square inch on a gauge. (Pressure varies; do not be concerned if you see a different reading if you even have
need of exploring this system, which you should not more than 99% of the
time.) But again, to understand the system, you need background. When you turn
on a faucet or flush a toilet, the water leaves the storage tank, which causes
a drop in the tank pressure. When the pressure reaches a certain
low point, the electric pump comes on and draws more water into the tank; and
when you turn off the faucet, the pump operates until the
upper pressure has been reached, then shuts off.
It is possible over time that the water in
the tank will absorb some of the air, reducing the pressure. This situation is called a "water-logged tank" and no matter how hard or long the
pump works, it cannot maintain the pressure level until more air is injected into the
tank. This is a rare occurence and you should not encounter it, but the symptom is that the pump will fill the tank, shut off, sense that the pressure
is low and come on again, over and over in a pattern called "cycling". If the pump keeps cycling,
you need to call for help, although it is not an emergency and you do not need to turn off the pump.
CONDENSATION
The first thing I'll mention is not
really a plumbing problem, although it can be corrected in some (not all) cases by reworking the
plumbing to include a mixing valve. Most times it just has to be lived with, unfortunately because in the
long run it can cause damage. When water is pumped out of the well, winter
or summer, the temperature is about 55 degrees. When the cottage
is occupied, the water moves along pretty constantly from the well to its destination,
encountering air that is as much as 30 degrees warmer or more and close to saturated with humidity. (Keep in mind
that a dehumidifier or air conditioner, working on the same principle, can remove a gallon or two of water from the air in a restricted space over a day's time.) The
places condensation is most noticed are under the cellar pipes and around the
toilet. Often there is nothing near the pipes that can be damaged, but the
constant drip of this "rain forest effect" water can lead to a pretty musty, even mildewy basement.
The symptoms are a length of metal pipe (not PVC or insulated) with a steady row
of beads of water forming along the lowest point in the curve. If you look closely, the entire surface of the pipe will be wet to the height of the
water inside; wipe it away, and it will re-form exactly as it was, collecting on the pipe until its
own weight brings it down to form the bead. Underneath, the pattern on the floor will appear as an identical track.
The toilet is another story. The toilet tank holds several gallons of this nature-chilled water up to a porcelain
surface, creating a large four-sided smooth plane on which the condensed humidity collects up to the height of the water in the tank, beads,
and then "rains" to the floor below where it can form an astonishly large puddle. Given that hot
water releases steam into the air from the tub and sink, there's a LOT of
water waiting to collect.
A plumber cannot help in the short term.
In some cases, over the long term, a mixing valve can be installed in the toilet
tank to add a small amount of hot water to the cold stuff coming out of the well, and the more nearly matched the
temperatures, the less water that will condense from the air. And we DO
know it looks like the toilet leaks; we DO know it could eventually soak through and rot the
sub-flooring. But out here where God and Mother Nature show their handiwork, sometimes we have to give in to things
we can't beat. This is just one of the reasons you will see this old poem
posted in the bathroom just as it was when plumbing first came indoors:
In this land of sun and fun,
We never flush for number one! |
SNAKES AND SOLID OBJECTS
In most cities, water comes from a pipe and leaves by a pipe.
Knowing more is about as important as knowing why milk comes in cartons. Leave the rest to
the cow and the farmer. Water comes from the country and returns to either open space or the ocean; you need know little more
except to pay the bill when the meter is read. But out here at the
end of Cape Cod, we ARE the country. Where the
water comes from depends on us; where it goes depends on us; the very health of
our water system depends on us. In fact, we are the only "single source aquifer" in this hemisphere!
Our single water supply is our ground water, in essence, an underground water table between layers of
rock or clay from which our wells draw. We have no reservoirs or rivers. As new homes are
added, each is designed to ensure that our fragile water system is protected, that the aquifer
under us is not corrupted, that our wells are not endangered, and that our neighbors' properties are not damaged. This
involves some pretty complicated engineering and a subterranian water system on each property for drawing from clean, fresh
water and disposing of used water by filtering it through the soil.
The trick to maintaining the
health of this system is to understand why it exists (leave the details to the experts) and what its drawbacks are. In the city, anything that gets flushed,
from mashed potatoes to diamond rings, gets its initial boost from the flush water in the
toilet tank. So do we. But there the similarity ends. Instead of
cruising under the city streets joined by more pipes and flowing into larger and larger conduits
until it reaches a treatment plant, the only momentum all our country mess
ever gets is the initial flush and more of its own kind when the
plug is pulled on the dish drain or someone showers. Carried by this momentum, the waste goes out of the cottage and through a pipe into its
own miniature processing plant. In the older properties this is called a cesspool, and is nothing
other than a cement-lined hole in the ground with openings out into the soil.
(There are more modern versions employing "holding tanks" and "leaching fields" and other stuff which it will not help you
to know about or understand.) Ideally, the liquids from the cottage drain
out of the holes and the solids stay inside where naturally
occuring bacteria feast on them and produce something that is, uh, less solid so it can move on and become part of
nature again.
However, when man meets microbe, things don't always work
this way. Getting back to the word "momentum", of which there isn't
a lot anyway, it carries what you don't want to see to where you can't see it or be otherwise bothered by it. If you
don't know what that means, let's just say you DON'T want to meet it again!
It is possible that over time things could happen to that pipe outside
the house or to the tank at the end. It's not common,
but it happens. The trees in the yard could send roots into the
pipe (they are not impervious) or a really heavy object like a tank (moving van, etc.) could drive across it just right.
Such injuries are rare. But the mistakes people make are not rare, unfortunately, and you
may learn of your error rapidly and unmistakably! The problems
that could "backfire" on you are a full or blocked septic system or cesspool and/or blockage in the
pipe.
Even if there are a few roots that have found their way into the pipe, and keep in mind that plants call the disgusting mess you are flushing "nutrients",
liquids and a normal amount of white toilet paper WILL flow smoothly to its destination. A lot
of toilet paper, especially the decorative kind, may not make it. Most anything
that advertises itself as "flushable" may get hung up...it does not mean "country flushable".
Diapers WILL NOT make it. Anything that calls itself "sanitary" WILL NOT make it.
AND ANYTHING THAT FOLLOWS THEM WILL NOT MAKE IT AND WILL COME BACK
UP THE PIPE TO HAUNT YOU!!!
Which brings us to solutions. Should you ever flush the unflushable, or even if you didn't, and your toilet water creeps higher and higher in the
bowl (hopefully coming to a stop before it overflows), do NOT keep trying to flush. Only rarely will the
extra water push the whatever down; more likely the extra water won't have a place
to go either, and then you really are in trouble. First, look around for a plunger. Every cottage should have one!
It's usually a red rubber cup inverted on a broom handle. But it could look like a turban; it could be black.
You stick this tool into the toilet as far as you can, sort of twist the
handle a bit til you can tell it's sitting firmly in the bottom, and then push like crazy. Whoomp!
This should force the foreign matter loose and into the cesspool. If it
does not work, the next step is a snake, a coil of really heavy wire with a crank-type
handle. This is not found in most homes, and when done right, should be inserted into the far
end of the pipe where it empties into the cesspool, and
that means digging, which means locating, which means experience. This is when you're better off at the
beach.
Of course, it is possible that the system, especially the older type, the cesspool, becomes full.
This is NOT a matter of flushing the wrong thing. It could be the drainage holes in the older tanks filled with solids over time, restricting
the outward flow. It could mean too many people are using the system too
often, (In this land of sun and fun...) It could be that the system
was designed for human use, but no one back then dreamed of washing machines, or the
dreaded dishwasher, so the waste water is going in faster than it can filter out. Dishwashers
are BAD. Food processors, such as built-in garbage disposals, are WORSE. Grease and detergent, along with
food waste (especially animal, like meat scraps) make GLUE. All of these things shorten the active life of a cesspool. Eventually a cesspool will become merely a
holding tank, and at some date in the future require replacement as a septic system. The short-term answer to solve your immediate needs is a pump-out. This is done by a big truck we refer to
as a "honey wagon" because it isn't! It doesn't take long, once it gets there (although there may be a waiting list
for its services). Unfortunately, this is not something that can be done in advance or planned for. But once
it's done, your problems should be over. So if your toilet flushes very slowly, AND the water
in your sinks, tubs, and showers has trouble going down, call for help. The combination of these usually means the tank is getting full and there's no room for more!
By the way, many cottages have
outside showers. These may be no more than a hose from a faucet bringing that 55 degree water up to a shower head, or
it may have both hot and cold water, and be enclosed for privacy. Some even have dressing rooms. This gets the sand off. It gets the salt off. But mainly, it gets you clean
without adding water to the cesspool...please use these if possible!
DEFEATING THE HEAT
It's a never-ending cycle...bake your body, try to cool off.
That's what beaches are for to some people, but it is especially important in the height of
summer to keep everything else cool and dry for your own comfort and even safety. Refrigerators are at the
top of the list, but they do not like operating in summer conditions, especially
in a seasonal area like Cape Cod where they may be turned off and left idle for many months of the year! In a way, your fridge is like your car: it will maintain a steady speed as it cruises
along, but it takes more effort sometimes to keep up to speed. And the work it does is in
the background. We never question what a refrigerator may suffer from until something goes wrong.
But there are ways to keep things from going wrong...preventative medicine, so to speak. Here are a few ideas.
IS IT COLD YET?
Refrigerators should maintain a temperature just barely above freezing,
i.e 34 degrees. (Refrigerator freezers should be below 32 degrees, the lower the
better, and a real freezer should maintain a temperature of zero.) On a hot day, it takes much
less than an hour to reach ambient temperature, or equalize with the air outside it, if it is left open.
If a cleaner defrosts and thoroughly cleans a fridge on a hot, humid day, it will NOT appear to be working normally for quite
some time, which is why we often ask them not to do it in between rentals. It takes as much as 24 hours of
being closed (NO PEEKING) to get back to where it should be.
Here's a little hint for home or away...I've been doing this
for over 10 years now, and wish I had thought of it 15 years before that when I started in the
rental business! Buy a cheap indoor/outdoor thermometer. Put it someplace near the fridge
and run the wire with the outdoor "wand" on the end
to the inside of your refrigerator. Close the
door AND LEAVE IT THAT WAY. When you start, the temperatures will be the
same in both columns of the thermometer, but as the minutes
creep by, the temp inside the fridge will start to register and the
"outdoor" column will begin to drop. Every time you open the door you can set the
fridge back by up to an hour, but this way you can see the refrigerator at work without
impeding its progress. (And save that thermometer for the winter. You might feel guilty
for being chilly when the thermostat's right where it should be, but drop that "outdoor wand" down where
your feet are and you may find all things are NOT equal...cherchez la draft.)
Another hint: When you first turn a fridge on, setting it
on high will cool it down quickly. However, DO NOT leave it at the highest setting.
This brings on another problem. The big action in a fridge takes place in the
freezer, and it's blown down into the refrigerator by a fan tucked away between the
two. Especially when the humidity is high, the combination intense cold
and moisture freezes up this fan and can burn out the fan motor. The result
is a nice cold normal freezer and a warm useless fridge. Since the freezer is already as cold
as it needs to be, and since cranking up the setting brings that temp down even further, a high setting
does no good and can, in fact, be harmful. The best thing you can do is to moderate the
setting BEFORE the fan motor ices up and you're practically watching your food spoil while you
wait for the appliance repairman to keep his appointment the next day.
SPEAKING OF COLD
Ever wonder where the air conditioner is?
Or why it isn't? Or go to take a shower and the water is cold? Well, just like Cape Cod
is the only single source aquifer, one could say we're a single source power source and be pretty darned
close to accurate. Electricity is manufactured at and over the Cape Cod Canal. That
means ALL the power we use, from Sandwich to P-town, comes from up yonder and travels the
length of the Cape through the "Power Lines", as we call
them, being drawn off at each town as needed. Electricity is not an endless stream flowing at full strength. There's
enough for everyone, new houses and all, as long as it is used in moderation. But some appliances are not moderate;
they are thirsty. These are electric stoves, electric hot water heaters, and air conditioners. Given that the Cape can be 15 degrees cooler than the mainland on a hot day because we're
surrounded by water, and that the ocean generates its own breezy "climate control", we really don't
need AC very often anyway...right? Think environment and go find an ice cream stand with a live oldies' band.
Some houses (not as many as in the past) have
two electric meters. One is only for the hot water heater and it is called an "off-peak meter".
It has a dial inside with tabs that cut the power during periods of peak usage
and turn it back on when things slow down, usually 10 AM to 12 noon and 4 to 6 PM. Hot water heaters are insulated so
the water stays hot the whole time...unless you use it up! Then it
will not recover and heat again until the power is restored to the meter.
Sometimes these little clocks get messed up, like during a power failure, and only licensed people can reset them, so the times I mentioned may not be exact. You can "diagnose" this for yourself if you perodically
run out of hot water. Just look outside to see how many electric meters there are. There
will only be one on the cottage unless you have an off-peak hot water meter.
Despite not having AC in most places, and regulating the
use of power to heat water, there are still times when the power is spread pretty
thinly between all the thousands of users on the Cape, usually
mealtime. So you may notice an occasional dimming, or "brown-out", or the lights may flicker as
power is routed around and transferred between outposts. It doesn't mean anything is wrong, and it doesn't last.
COMMON "CRIMINALS" OF
CAPE COD
ASSAULT
HOME INVASION
Ticks Roaches*
Greenhead flies *
Water bugs (sow bugs)
Mosquitoes * Earwigs
Fleas
Mice
No See-ums
Ants
Daddy Long-Legs
Mildew
June Bugs & Beetles*
*See below
Depending on the time of
the summer and the weather conditions, a host of different
critters may become "Common Nuisance #1" and then give way for another pest to take its place. Some summers, or some
weeks of the summer, you might not encounter any problem "livestock" at the beach or in your summer home. This is for the other times...what you can do,
what you can't do, and what you might find help for. We are just a sand bar with water on both sides and in the
middle, and some bugs are naturally attracted to water and humidity. That cannot change. Whether they annoy you,
or worse, to some degree depends on understanding them and to another degree on learning not just how to live with them, but
how to live without them. If you knew a nocturnal bug was attracted to light, the last thing you
would do would be to leave lights on all night, right? Suppose that bug resembled another bug that was afraid of light. What then? Or, you're tired of the kids
tracking beach sand into the cottage...you've been sweeping every day and you just can't stay ahead
of it. Idea: put a dishpan outside the door full of
water and make the kids rinse before entering. Good idea..or BAD?!
There is an immense amount of information
about insects on the internet. There are a huge number of bugs on this earth,
and they have been here for many thousands of years, some surviving what the dinosaurs
could not. The bits and pieces of information below will not educate you,
but they may interest you, and I hope they will guide you to knowing what will and will not cause pain or disease, how
to avoid them (if possible), and what is being done locally to control them. Nor would the
sketches hold up to any kind of scientific or artistic standard. But at least, you will be able
to recognize one of these creatures that we share Cape Cod with should you encounter it, and hopefully
avoid the shock of meeting it without warning.
|
| Wood Roach -- about 1" |
THE INNOCENT LOOK-ALIKE
Strangely, the bug that draws the
most attention and
complaints is one of the
most innocent insects on
Cape Cod. It does not bite or sting. It does not
damage property like a termite, or clothing like a wool
moth. It is not interested in human food and does not
carry any diseases or contaminants. It lives outdoors,
especially in woods or garden areas. There are two
ways this bug gets into a cottage. First, it might ride in
on laundry from the clothesline, or in veggies or flowers from a garden. Second, it slides in
under loosely fitting screens at open windows or doors that are backlit by lights inside the cottage
at night. They are attracted to light and they fly short distances, although they prefer to skitter.
(It is the male which usually enters near a light source; they are out seeking female companionship.
Mating season is usually late spring, so visit the Cape then if you want to see more of
them.) Their crime? They resemble an immature cockroach quite closely when they are not moving, being tan and
flat with wings that appear to be shell-like when closed. In fact, they are referred to as the
"spotted roach" because of several blue dots visible through a magnifying glass on their underside,
or the "pine roach" or "wood roach" because of their native habitat. They
are NOT cockroaches (German roaches) and, in fact, have more in common with moths than their distant German cousin. The chances of their hitch-hiking home with someone are pretty slim, and they would
not survive the trip or multiply. In fact, coming into the cottage
is essentially suicidal; they cannot live in that setting. There is no chemical method of removing
(exterminating) wood roaches because of their outdoor habitat. The best
defense is to tighten openings around window and door screens and to move lights, if possible, away from the
immediate window or door area. A vacuum cleaner is also pretty effective, but possibly self-defeating. The old adage, "Where there's one, there's more." is not true indoors for these outdoor bugs, and you
could be chasing shadows all week instead of enjoying the sun. The
best info I've found is "The Cockroach Control Manual" from the University of Nebraska, which is available as a printed book or is published in full on line (http://pested.unl.edu/cockcom.htm) . For kids, try http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/roach, especially if you want to know these creatures have been around for billions
of years and that there are over 5,000 varieties. Or, for this and many other animal, vegetable,
or mineral questions about the Cape, call the Barnstable County Agricultural
Extension Service, 1-508 362-2511 (connects all departments).
Common Name: Wood or Spotted Roach
Season of greatest activity: June through
mid- to late-July
|
| Greenhead Fly |
THE WICKED AVIATOR
In contrast, there is a bug that seems to follow you everywhere,
at least during daytime, sneak up without notice but with the speed and precision of
a small bomber, and cause real pain at the bite site. This hungry and disagreeable insect is the greenhead fly. There seems to be a lot we don't know about them, but that lack is being addressed
by grad students from the University of Massachusetts among others. It
is due to their field work and research that we now know the breeding habits of
these monster biting flies. The "Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project" applies a great deal
of its time, effort, and budget to eliminating or reducing the greenhead population
on the Cape. Pass a salt marsh (the most obvious is Blackfish Creek at Davises'
Corner in South Wellfleet) and you may see what appear to be empty wooden boxes on stilts scattered around the
marsh. These are greenhead traps, and they are baited and covered with mesh to trap the flies.
From experiments with the boxes, the Project learned that certain colors painted
on the inside attract many more flies than others. But the need for knowledge
is on-going. These blood-hungry vultures can take advantage of your exposed skin at the
beach, fly miles out to sea to meet your boat, or trap you in your car with equal ease. Greenheads seem to like
both heat and dark colors, perhaps because the heat increases perspiration and signals your presence.
They seem to collect under beach umbrellas, under tarpaulins and in tents, even in cars parked with open windows.
They also seem to like some people and totally ignore others, which may mean diet or cosmetics and lotions play a part.
The female does the stinging/biting; blood is a necessary ingredient in the breeding process, providing protein for the eggs she lays. The
good news is that they DO have a "season"; tough it out until some time in August, and you'll be fly-free for the
rest of the summer. If you want to get technical, greenheads breed in the salt marshes after a moon- or high course tide. (A high course tide is when the
distance between the waterline at high and low tides is the greatest; in other
words, not only are the high tides very high, but the low tides are very low,
and they occur at full and new moon phases. Keep this in mind for beachcombing and clamming.) Their breeding
is also temperature-dependent. If we have a warm, dry spring, the flies breed early; if
it is cold and damp, they breed late.
Warm, dry spring: Appear after the new
moon in June and disappear after the full moon at the end of
July, beginning of August. (approx. 45 days)
Cool, damp spring: Appear after the
full moon in June and disappear after the new moon in August. (approx. 45 days)
There are apparently a couple of generations
at work at once toward the end of their life cycle; the
greenhead population is heaviest later in their season. And despite the headway made so far, there
isn't much else that can be done to eliminate or reduce the greenhead population. Altering the landscape is not feasible. Pesticides and insecticides would have to be administered in large doses
in an almost random pattern, which would cause more problems to humans and wildlife than to the insects
themselves. There are a few things you can do, like reducing dead air space. Roll your car windows
up and use something porous like a lightweight blanket for shade at the beach (you'll need 2 umbrellas
leaning on their sides and some clothespins). And it wouldn't hurt to avoid perfume, cologne, and cosmetics and drink
plenty of plain, cold water--it's good for you anyway. Since no one knows what it is that make
some people targets, even if two people side by side are wearing the same sun block, it's assumed that
there is body chemistry in action. If you're going to cook your body, you might as well try to dilute the
message you're sending. Rumor has it that eating bananas makes one vulnerable. Rumor also has it that salt
crystals that dry on your body after an ocean swim or splashy boat ride reflect the sun like little
lenses and act as beacons to the voraceous female fly, although that certainly doesn't explain why a
greenhead will bite right through clothing! In fact, the greenhead fly, cousin to the
horse fly, gets its first meal of blood protein in the larval stage, eating insects
and tiny animals. This supports it through laying its first egg mass. A female can lay up to four egg masses
during the summer, and each requires a fresh blood donation at your peril. A green head can fly
many miles at a time in search of food from humans or wildlife, but it is we humans who grab our coolers
and beach towels and present ourselves at her doorstep.
Common name: Greenhead fly
Season of greatest activity: mid-June
through early August
|
| Mosquito -- about 1/4 inch |
THE SCUM BUM
Babies know what they are. Children's songs are written about
them. They can be found day and night, indoors and out, alone and in swarms. You can hear them coming, hear
them circling...you have plenty of warning, but you can't escape them. "They" are the
most common of all nasty blood-sucking insects, the ubiquitous mosquito,
"...and beneath
my fingernails
I
will squish their little tails
'Til
they promise not to bite me anymore!"
Hard to believe, but they are even more voracious at dusk and it
seems impossible sometimes to even venture outdoors. Yet our mosquitoes are small by mosquito standards.
They are nothing compared to the wild game found in northern Maine and up into Canada. It's hard
to believe that people pay big bucks to go after caribou, moose, bear, and mosquitoes. All my husband ever sees are
mosquitoes, but he keeps going back. Huge and mean. So keep that in mind when one of our
"normal" ones finds a tender spot.
Of course, slapping is the
best way to get rid of them. As with our other local airborne creatures, pesticides can be more
of a hazard than a relief. But in the case of mosquitoes,
prevention is possible to a degree. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water...ANY stagnant, sitting water. Kiddie pools,
dog dishes, in the rims of old tires, in the dishpan you
set out for foot rinsing--if it sits long enough, if rain collects in it, mosquitoes will find it. And, as with other
biting bugs, it is the female that gets you and she has one thing in mind, reproduction. So cover
up, put on the DEET, check the area around your house or cottage for frisbees
lying dish-side-up, and keep citronella candles handy, but out of reach of kids,
to establish your own Snack-Free Zone.
Common name: Mosquito
Season of greatest activity: spring
through fall
|
| June Bug (beetle) up to 1 1/2" |
ZOOM BUGS
It's time to mention another insect that causes no harm to humans,
actually a group of outdoor creatures that are just an annoyance...and quite an annoyance if they get
caught in your hair!!! June bugs are among the largest, most prolific, and most aggressive-seeming
of the beetles. Actually, they are not at all aggressive and are pretty
clumsy, which gets them into a lot of trouble and usually mashed by the human
who is assigned the job. June bugs are the adult life span of
cutworms, those pale, dead-white fat worms that snip your tomato plants right at the top of the soil. They are nocturnal, and strongly attracted to light. That is
why you will hear a "thunk" on your window glass or screens that is loud enough to startle a person into thinking there might
be an animal outside trying to get in. And if they do get in, they will zoom directly for the
nearest bright light, usually a ceiling fixture, with no regard to what is in the way, which is usually
human. When swatted or in contact with the light they are seeking, they will become stunned and
fall or fly erratically, often "bumbling" into a person again. Though totally harmless, their sheer size, often over
an inch and half as wide, and their strong grasping (velcro-like) legs, make them very unpleasant company. The only time to effectively control the June bug population is in the
spring, in the larval stage, when either natural enemies such as ladybugs, chemical pesticides, or primitive
weapons (rocks and shoe heels) may be used by gardeners. Children, and perhaps some adults who would feel
better knowing that there is some worth to these unpleasant creatures, may find comfort in the story
found in this website: http://www.wwmag.net/junebug.htm .
Common names: June bug, Lady bug, Horned beetle
Season of greatest activity: Spring
and summer
There's more to come in 2007!
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