Cottonwood Borer Beetle

Summer of 2025 we had a new bug visitor. I learned they was called a cottonwood borer beetle. These things are huge. A little bigger than a mouse and with antenna that spanned two inches to either side of its body. These things must have loved the porch light. They would dive bomb us and fly around landing way too close to me for comfort.

One night this was happening for over an hour. It kept landing on the bench then walk towards me and even landed on my water bottle. I had to dodge it several times. Eventually, Neville had it with the constant harassment. He was done with this thing tormenting us and went full on protect mode. He was determined to stop the torment. It was a full on battle, but Neville doesn’t know the term ‘surrender’. He has never turned away from a fight and never showed fear. He is the bravest boy ever. Always so confident and sure of himself. Yes of course he still needed mommy’s lap for scary things like acupuncture, but he faced those situations with a brave face. He never coward or shook with fear. He never hid behind me. He never hid ever. He lived life to the fullest always. He wasn’t just my bug hunter and protector, he was my fierce brave partner.

This video shows his fierce battle and sweet victory. It’s a true representation of the amazing little man he was, is and always will be.