Attack of the killer Asian Lady Beetles

We did decide to go and try and get some pictures and do some hiking today. I love fall.

We drove to this country spot we like to hike in. Zoey was thrilled to be out and immediately hit the tall grass. All I could see was the tip of her tail wagging. We climbed to the top of the hill with me taking some shots along the way.

It seemed like every time I stopped one or two of those pesty beetles would land on me. They look like cute little lady bugs..... but they're not. I am not fond of them because they bite. Also they stink. If you squash them they stain what they were squashed on orange. So I don't care for them. The further in we got the more seemed to be around. Stopping was not longer an option. You started to get covered if you stopped.

Rick! Lets go back, I yelled. Just then one flew in my ear. Yikes! Turning I started running down the hill. I could hear Zoey and Rick right behind me. All of a sudden it didn't seem like such a nice day. All of a sudden it seemed like something out of a B horror flick. Tiny little hard shelled bodies landing and biting right and left.

Bolting to the van I was horrified to see it covered with hundreds of the creepy critters. I stopped in my tracks giving the few thousand chasing me time to catch up. ARRRGGGHHH. They were in my hair, down my blouse, crawling up my pant legs. There I danced in the parking lot madly swatting and screeching the bugs off me and finally made a dash in the van. Not without about 8 hitching a ride. Panting I looked out the window. There danced Rick, madly swatting and jumping around in circles looking like a mad man. A car slowly drove by with the occupants faces pressed against the window trying to figure out what was going on. Looks of horror and amusement on their faces. What a picture we were. Finally he leaped into the van gasping for breath and we planned our get a way.

The windshield and all windows were covered. We turned on the wipers to the added gruesome vision of millions of hard shelled bodies being smeared against the glass. Looking out we could see a huge cloud of bugs everywhere we looked. OMG. We were being invading.

Don't open the windows, Rick gasped and we took off through the swarm. As we drove like mad we went around the corner to see a motorcycle innocently driving the other way. Right into the swarm around the corner.
No, we yelled waving our arms like mad. The man happily waved back and continued on. Should we turn around I asked? He may need help! It's too late my husband moaned, he's had it.

Needless to say I didn't quite get the pictures I wanted today. We did manage to capture some shots around 10 miles away. But we were wary. One of us kept watch. They live.....they live.

I will post some pictures later. Most you can't tell I was running in them. I didn't know this would be such a dangerous hobby. I sure am glad I was feeling better