That's nuts. I have them in the house all the time and when its warm inside, they can get crazy.
I also have a few in the camper each time I open it (including this past weekend) but I've never had more then a 1/2 dozen.
I've read a lot of web sites and haven't found a great solution. The sprays that are out there kill the live ones but not the eggs, so it's a temporary solution.
[quote author=JoeCamper link=topic=192.msg764#msg764 date=1286879379]
The sprays that are out there kill the live ones but not the eggs, so it's a temporary solution.
Thanks, just what I wanted to hear...those things really creep me out. I guess we'll see how many are still in the camper when we get to Lackawanna on Friday.
This year has been the worst I've known with the stink bugs. I ended up setting off a flea bomb in the PUP and it was very effective. The warm days, they seemed to congregate on the sunny side (outside) of the camper, then in the evening come inside to the light. I found several spots (where the bunk ends zip to the body canvas - top and bottom) where there were gaps. I stuffed paper towels in those gaps. After the flea bomb, those that entered died within a few hours, and I found a slew of dead bugs on the 'sunny side' of the bunk end between the mattress and canvas. Our family dog goes ballistic when he smells or hears them.
I keep hoping that this is a cycle like the 7 year locust....maybe next year they won't exist!
Joe, I like the video. It looks like it was working. I have heard in years past that there is no pesticide to kill them. I was in home depot today (OK, 5 trips for a home project) and they had a whole display of stink bug killer. I didn't look at it since I was in the middle of a project but I may look at it next time I am in home depot.
Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
In October 2009 we had the same experience with stink bugs in our pop up. We were camping at Greenbrier State Park near Hagerstown, MD. We were there for a 4 day weekend. It was comfortably cool camping on Friday night. On Saturday, the sun came out and the temps rose! I noticed "movement" on the wooden post where you hand a lantern and noticed a large amount of stink bugs on it. Then there were more. We went off to fish, and when we got back, they were EVERYWHERE! They covered the underside of our 10 x 10 canopy over our picnic table, they were all over the camper, and when we went inside the camper, they were all over the inside! Hundreds of them! We went to the home depot and got a bunch of cans of bug spray and just sprayed the heck out of the interior of the camper. They died in their "death pose" with their arms up in the air! UGH! I can still see them in my mind! We then had to go back to the Depot to get a vacuum cleaner to clean them all out. When it got cooler in the evening, they disappeared! We figured they did not like the coolness...so we cranked up the AC in the camper to try and keep them out (they were coming in from the AC unit too!) That night, we had some crawling on us and when I got up the next morning, they started coming out again when it started getting waermer. We were not going through that again! We left on Sunday, a day early. Those creepy critters even got into the legs of the folding table that we use outside! When we got home, we had to open the camper and vacuum every nook and cranny of it. Not only did they get into the camper, but they were in the truck, and kept emerging from cracks here and there in the interior of the truck. We don't camp in Western Maryland any more. We stick to the Eatern Shore. So far we have just experience flies out there (they are pesky too, but not like the stink bugs! At least they don't make their way into your camper!)
There's a guy in Columbia, PA, who has invented what he says is a very effective stink bug trap -- http://www.stinkbugtrapsonline.com/.
We've been fortunate that they haven't swarmed at the state parks where we've camped, but last fall we were at Susquehannock State Park along the Susquehanna River for an environmental program. When we got to the first overlook, the little bugger were everywhere. The posts and rails were almost covered with them and they were flying around in swarms like gnats. We quickly moved on from that area! We didn't notice many in other areas of the park.
I know that researchers and pest control companies are feverishly looking for effective control measures because they're causing lots of damage in the orchards around here.
John
769
29
1 Guest(s)