Oh, we have stink bugs west of the Mississippi. These guys (or something that looks just like them) routinely come hitchhiking on Lodgepole Pine. I guess they live on those trees. They're really slow bugs, but they will find their way to dang near anywhere. Their odor is a defense, so if they feel threatened they release the stink. Of course, if you smash one one you'll smell it as well. They seem to winter over deep in the wood stacks , then, with the warming of spring, out they come. Or maybe they lay eggs in the wood and then they die during winter and the next generation is what I see emerging in the spring...I dunno. I've never seen an "army" of them in the stove (or anywhere else), the only ones I've ever seen in the stove I put in there when I loaded the splits they were on. They're loners, I've never seen two or more together except sometimes when I turn over a split that's been in the stack for a long time. In the cold of winter, they're inactive...unless they find their favorite split (the one they happen to be clinging to) just went into the stove, then there's a
very brief period of activity.
View attachment 76223
P.S.--Contrary to popular belief, it is POSSIBLE to crush them without releasing that goddess-awful smell. The trick is is QUICKLY snuff them out with a tissue. If you delay for even a second to dispach them, they will have time to release the nasty spray, and wow, will you feel ill.
