An innocent student experiment had potentially catastrophic results last month when a tick and a brown marmorated stink bug took refuge in the same storage closet and climbed into a box holding chemicals from an abandoned Science Fair project. The result, which crawled out of the closet last week, was a very large brown tick that emits a horrible stench when crushed, flushed down a drain, or placed in a dryer.
The new hybrid insect is causing quite a stir among scientists and flat-out panic at Bromfield, where hazmat teams are emptying every closet and probing every crevice in an attempt to see how many tick-stinks may be lurking in the dark, waiting to hitch a ride out of there in a student backpack or sock.
Health officials agree the chances of finding all the bugs are slim, and they advise anyone who sees one to avoid physical contact. “Dealing with a tick-stink is sort of like dealing with a skunk,” said one official. “Only in this case, it’s a skunk that can crawl into your house or up your pant leg any time of the day or night.”
