Mascots at work

 
This little fellow may seem harmless, and initally they started out as so. Then the nuisance really began when one day I could barely get into the back door at work without using my purse to fling off dozens of these buggers. What are these creatures? Box elder bugs. They feed on boxelder trees, which just so happen to be directly behind our parking lot. I took these next photos last month, when the weather was still warm enough to attract them. Are they on any other back door of the plaza? Nope! Just ours!

 
 
I read an article about them that stated "On warm days during winter and early spring, box elder bugs sometimes appear on light painted surfaces outdoors on the south and west sides of the house, resting in the sun." Our back wall is light yellow, and it faces south. Lucky us.

Now that it's cold out, the bugs are dying off, but many have made their way into our office. Eeeew! Today I was even laughing at one... it was on a counter, and when I was walking past it, it seemed as if it was watching my every move, moving along with me, never turning it's back to me! They must know... they know we're killing them off as fast as we can inside! Yet they keep taunting us... always popping up around the place. I just wish they'd all hibernate and go away. I'm done with them! Oh, and like my friend Marie said, there's no way I'd eat at the restaurant next door... knowing how many of these bugs we get in our place, you just KNOW they've got to have a few in theirs! Blech!