Sneak Attack

We tried to fight the squash bugs.

I marched out every morning to hunt and squish eggs.

If I saw any climbing around the leaves, I’d quickly dispose of them…valiantly fighting the urge to freak out and stomp all over the garden.

Joe, always game to squish and observe bugs, was very helpful.

But I got lazy.

I’d check a few leaves before heading out to say good morning to the chickens, only to remember again when I came out to pick ripe tomatoes in the late afternoon.

Sometimes, I wouldn’t remember at all.

Then, I went to see if any pumpkins were ready to pick.

There they were…crawling all over the place.

There were thousands of them…maybe even millions.

The whole ground moved.

Every time I tried to pick up a pumpkin, they’d crawl all over my hands.

I saw them on my boots.

I felt them in my hair–ok, maybe that was just my overactive imagination and disgust of these pests. You get the idea though…there were a lot of them.

I tried to pick them off. Even thought about getting the bug vacuum out, but there were just too many of the white and gray creeps.

I decided to cut my losses.

I picked all of the pumpkins that didn’t have puncture wounds and put them on the deck to use later. 

Then, I cut the vines, squared my shoulders and pulled the whole thing out to the chickens. They were happy for the treat and I was happy to see the bugs eaten.

The ladies were glad
They had a tasty bug treat
Let’s hope they stay pleased