Beetle Invasion At Rock Cut State Park

At approximately 1:45PM on Saturday, October 11, 2008- The Asian Lady Beetle made a successful invasion of Rock Cut State Park at Rockford, Illinois. The initial wave saw a well organized army of some ten-thousand beetles attacking the Scamper we were camping in. This initial attack was followed by the main army of over one-hundred-thousand beetles armed with an offensive odor and sharp bite who took up residence in the canvas and aluminum pop-up. Armed with no more than a can of Repel 40% Deet and a hand held whisk broom Kent entered the Scamper to begin battle. The Repel proved to be a stimulant to the already over exited beetles and soon Kent’s hairless dome became covered with red beetle bite welts. Kent retreated. Arming himself with new, more powerful chemical warfare he re-entered the Scamper with a full bottle of Arm and Hammer Anti-Bacteria Cleaner. He set the nozzle on spray and began to fire away. The beetles started to fall like rain on a Fourth of July picnic. Emptying half the bottle into the air and the other half on to the surfaces where the beetles had retreated for safety, Kent won the battle in just under thirty minutes. He then drew his whisk broom out of its holster and began to whisk the beetles into a victory pile. Soon their crispy little bodies were all inside a garbage bag and thrown outside the door. The only remnants were the many orange stains on the white floor and walls. There was just enough Arm and Hammer Anti- Bacteria Cleaner to remove these last traces of the battle.

The weekend started by packing Chummy and attaching Fran’s Saturn to the back. The plans were to meet our friends Jim and Betty Cole in Roscoe, IL for Church and have them back to Chummy for dinner. Rock Cut State Park is close to their house and we planned to spend Saturday hiking and enjoying the fall colors. We got an early start on Friday and were on the highway just in time for a belt to break on Chummy. Fortunately we were just a few blocks from our mechanic so we left Chummy there. Sitting in our driveway was the pop-up we had bought to use for rental. It was not rented for this weekend so we decided to pack up the pop-up and take that to Rockford. Several hours later we were on the road once again, this time in our pickup pulling the pop-up. We arrived at the park just after dark and quickly had the pop-up set up. This would be the first time we would camp in the pop-up since we bought it.

Fran and I have become accustomed to the roominess of Chummy. There were also certain items we were used to having which the pop-up does not have, like closets, dresser drawers, a kitchen and a bathroom. Fortunately we did secure a campsite across from the bathrooms so the walk was not to far. The other stuff we would just have to learn to rough it without. Our first night’s dinner was in a restaurant. However, we did find the pop-up to be very comfortable and convenient with what it does have. For breakfast we comfortably sat at the dinette and ate our cereal. After my first cup of coffee inside I was able to take my coffee pot outside and plug it in and enjoy the rest under the trees. The refrigerator held all of the food we brought with room to spare and was ice cold after a few hours. We both slept well the first night finding the mattresses to be quite adequate. Our only real complaint was that we had become spoiled with the roominess of Chummy.

Rock Cut State Park is located in Loves Park, IL just outside of Rockford, Illinois which is the third largest city in the state of Illinois. The municipal area of Winnebago County is the second largest in population outside of the Chicago region. Nestled into all of this city sprawl and population is this beautiful state park. The park has just over 3000 acres of land, two man made lakes, and numerous hiking, biking, and equestrian, trails. The park’s name is derived from the 1859 railroad construction crews who cut through the rock to make a suitable road bed. Portions of this original railroad bed are still visible. Fran and I set out Saturday morning to explore some of the forty miles of hiking trails available in the park. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid 70's and a light breeze and as you have in fall the breeze held a coolness which was refreshing. We had no particular destination in mind and just began to wander the paths. The park’s brochure was not very descriptive on any of the trails and the park did not provide any feature signs along the way. All we had was a very poorly drawn map and once in awhile a sign post with a number on its top. There was never an explanation of the numbers so we had no clue as to what they meant. We did find a nice forest which appeared to be mostly new growth trees. The leaves were at their peak color and the walk under the canopy was most enjoyable. We left the forest area and entered an open plains area on a path which ran along a bluff and overlooked a gorgeous vista of fall colored trees. We followed this path for quite sometime before reentering the forest and beginning a loop which eventually returned us to the campground. Along the trails we met several mountain bikers who were polite and allowed us to move out of their way before pedaling through. We did not meet any other hikers once we got away from the campground and picnic area. This was odd and not what we were accustomed to on our hikes in the Wisconsin Parks. The trails were beautiful and very well kept. The only real distraction was the noise from a nearby auto racetrack. There had to of been a stock car race that weekend. However, I did find that I was able to use the roar of the race as a reference point to keep my bearings and not get lost on the trails. We were gone for almost three hours and were very happy with our hike. The plan was to have lunch and then take another hike in the opposite direction but the beetles changed all of that.

When we returned to our campsite we found that we had been invaded by the Asian Lady Beetle. These little creatures are often mistaken for lady bugs since they look so similar. The difference is that these buggars bite and have a foul odor. Like most unconquerable pests they are an invasive specie which some bright minded fool thought to bring here to eat aphids which our home grown lady bugs were not eating. Now we are overloaded with the crusted shelled swarming bugs and they are without a local predator. Our cabinets of pesticides are mostly worthless in attacking them and many home remedies from moth balls to camphor sacks have been tried with the same lack of success. The end result is that we are being over run with the little nasties. Our campsite was a mess. They had completely plastered the south side of the pop-up. The air was fluttering with them and it was impossible to stand outside without being attacked. We were forewarned when we stopped at another campsite to visit with the people there. They invited us into their trailer which was totally infested with the bugs. When we were leaving the bugs attacked us while we stood and said good-bye. The inside of our pop-up was black with beetles. We pulled out everything which was not bolted down and put it into the back of the truck. Then we drove into to town and bought some cleaner and towels with which to attack the mess. I worked for over an hour before Fran was able to enter the pop-up. I literally carried out a bag of the bugs. The only thing which seemed to work on them was the cleaner but I also suspect that as the sun began to set and the pop-up was in the shade they left on their own accord.

We had planned to have our friends back to the campsite for a cookout after church but realized it would be impossible to do so with these bugs. The folks at the site next to ours told us they had arrived on Friday and the beetles were just as bad that day as they were on Saturday. We decided the best thing would be to take our friends out to a nice restaurant and surrender to these bugs. The immediate problem was sleeping in the pop-up that night. After we finished dinner I went back in and swept out another load of the annoyance and found if I kept the lights off no more were being attracted inside. We stayed up late that night enjoying the fire and not wanting to go inside. Eventually we were both so tired we had no more excuses and we went to bed. Fran and I slept with dreams of being eaten alive during the night. The sun would come up and only our bones would be left. The park rangers would come in several days later and find our skeletons covered with beetles. That did not happen. When we woke up we each assured each other that our skin was still intact. We dressed for church and saw that already the bugs were already swarming on the outside windows. This time we left the pop-up closed up tight.

We have met Jim and Betty Cole at their church at Roscoe several times before but for some reason I always get lost. This time I thought I would fool myself and Mapquest the route. So we left for the church with plenty of time to spare with my Mapquest map in hand. We arrived at a church only to realize we were at the wrong church. But not only the wrong church but the wrong town. I had Mapquested a the United Methodist Church in Rockton and not Roscoe, Illinois. My record was intact we were lost again. The correct church turned out to be just a few miles from the state park where we were camped and with the light Sunday morning traffic we arrived just in time for the service. We have been friends with the Coles for over forty-five years and we always enjoy getting together with them. We had a lovely dinner after the worship service and then went to the Roscoe fire department open house. Jim had been a volunteer fireman and chaplain for many years and he wanted to show us the firehouse. Afterwards we returned to their house so Fran and I could share our China pictures and stuff. This was a great visit and as always was good to catch up on our friendship.

When we returned to the campground the beetles had indeed returned. However, by keeping the pop-up tightly zipped we prevented the level of invasion we had the day before. Fran and I wasted no time in changing our clothes and packing up for home. We had the pop-up closed and attached to the truck in under thirty minutes. Rock Cut State park was beautiful and we will return but not in the fall when the Asian Beetles are swarming. When I got the pop-up home it needed a thorough cleaning. I found the top sides of all the cabinets to be coated with the beetles. They had found their way into the power converter, furnace, and even the folds of the vinyl top. I had to take apart the furnace, lift out the water tank, and everything else removable which had a crack underneath. They had found their way inside the light fixtures and even the thermostat. By using the shop vac I was pretty certain all of them were gone when I declared the project complete. To my surprise I found more flying around the next day so I attacked the crevices again. The pop-up is now closed for the winter and parked in the back behind the shed. I have read that the only real way to exterminate these things is to kill them off in the winter when it freezes. I will walk around the pop-up this January with a smile on my face knowing that inside are fierce beetles dying. I will have beaten them and their frozen little orange and black spotted bodies which I will happily sweep out next spring.