This time of year in Maine you can count on several things...the foliage turning from all shades of green into bright oranges, reds, golds, yellows and ambers, the snowbirds retreating to warmer climes, the little dairy shacks that dot the coastline shuttering up for the winter, and our annual invasion of winged beasts. These kinds of winged beasts in particular...
We have several of these "groups" of ladybugs throughout the entire house. The harder we try to control the invading hordes, the worse it seems to get. I gave up counting when I got to 100. And what does one call a group of ladybugs like this? A pod? Pride? Coven? Well, if you're an almost-four-year-old, you call them a "Schnooff of ladybugs." Don't even attempt to call them anything else because you will be sternly corrected by the small person.
Frankly I'd be willing to bet we have several little ladybug orgies going on throughout our house...but I dare not speak those words aloud else I'll have a certain little person repeating them at the most inopportune times.
The first fall that we were here at the asylum we got a real taste of what this yearly invasion of ladybugs was like. Prior to that we'd had a few get in to whatever house we were in, but nothing like that first year here. Gaby was roughly 21 months old at the time and was intrigued and beguiled by the ladybugs, but still a tad apprehensive...
I love how she says "ladybugs." Cracks me up every time!
Last year the invasion wasn't as um...well, plentiful as it is this year so we didn't pay too much attention to it. However this year, with the sheer volume alone, it's really hard to ignore. Oh and then there's the feline factor. Oiy! Our sheers in the front room are pretty much history due to the cats shredding them whilst climbing, in order to get to a nice, fat, juicy, red beetle! Gaby is still beguiled by them, but after watching the first video, and now this one, you can tell that certain things never change - despite growing older, both she and I jump when we're holding one and they take to the air...
I guess I should be grateful for the fact that it's only ladybugs we're dealing with and not an invasion of fiddler crabs, eh CBW?
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