See the little straw mats wrapped around the trunks of these trees? They aren’t to keep the pines from catching cold, they’re old-fashioned pesticide!
In the wintertime, insects crawl down from the branches and burrow into the temptingly warm straw mats, which are wrapped tightly at the bottom and loosely at the top. Congratulating themselves on finding the insect equivalent of the Bahamas, the bugs never suspect that before it’s warm enough to return to wreaking havoc, gardeners will swoop in and BWAHAHAHAHA toss their cozy roach motel into the fire!
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Would you like to be whisked away to Japan, wherever you are?
“The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. You’re in for a treat.”
—James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 