offer to pay for the vertical firewood removal ..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: this was two down from your post ..

Steph, are these insects boxelder bugs? Anyway, in my community we have nuisance laws. Start keeping a picture or video diary. It would be helpful to your case if you could ID the tree with certainty. We can help you do that,but not without pictures of the leaves and tree.

Box Elder bugs live on the pollen from many different "Acer" tree species, are not harmful to the environemnt, people, or pets. Spraying pesticides to eliminate them may well also kill off the predators that could control them.
While sometimes it seems, in the house, there are lots of these wee buggers, I have not in all my life seen enough of them outside to present any problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Boxelder bugs

The problem with your observations, kimmsr, is that they tend to be extremely limited. "I have never observed; I have never seen...."

We need to listen to these people. Though BEBs are not known to become major pests, if in large nembers they can become a true nuisance. Pollen is not their primary food source, but seeds. They will also ruin other tree fruits such as peaches, pears, and apples. Several thousands of these living under the siding or in the attic...and all of their poop.....pose a real health hazard.

If I lived in this situation, I would have contacted the homeowner a long time ago....in person. Ring the doorbell, stick out your paw and introduce yourself. "You sure do have a problem with those boxelder bugs, don't you? " For the neighbor, large populations constitute a real health hazard. You should be aware of that, kimnsr.

Your role is to listen and impart factual information. Not only factual, but balanced and supportive.

Thank you for your responses.

I'm not kidding when I say these bugs (and they are definitely box elder bugs) are covering our entire backyard. I'm not just talking about a few (or 50 or 100) bugs here and there. We literally have thousands of these things taking over our outdoor living space. Like I said in my original post, our kids don't want to go outside anymore. Heck, I don't even want to go outside anymore!

I can't say for sure that the tree in my neighbours yard is a box elder tree, because I am not familiar with this species of tree. It is in the middle of their yard, and even when I stand at the fence, I have a yard time getting a good look at any of the distinguishing features of the tree, besides the millions of red bugs crawling all over it. Our neighbour is a single mom with 5 kids, and while we have met and our children play together, I haven't seen her or her kids outside since the invasion began. I doubt very much that she could afford to have a tree of that size removed, and I certainly can't afford to have it removed for her.

My husband seems to think we are making a dent in the population. I think they are just finding warmer spots to hang out (ie, underneath the shingles on our roof). The whole situation really is just disgusting...

Rhizo, if you had read the link I attached to my post you, numerous times over the years, you would find what I wrote is supported by the University of California - Davis IPM people.

Yes, kimmsr. Very informative and helpful fact sheet. But if you can't listen to and adapt to individual examples, you aren't providing much assistance to that person. I'm just suggesting that you THINK before cubbyholing these people into what is really a very narrow perception.

You could use your general information in a much more effective way.
Clearly, you've never experienced nor heard of the kind of overwhelming situation as described by our original poster. Your limited experience should not exclude the reality of others. Listen to what they are saying. It's not that difficult to sift out the "bugiphobes " from those in true distress.