People with real Christmas trees in their homes have been warned to check for “clumps” on the branches, which could cause a pretty nasty problem if left alone.
Social media users are being warned about their trees. Credit: 10’000 Hours/Getty
For those who celebrate Christmas, putting a tree up is one of the most magical parts of the year – and even better if the tree in question is a real one.
There’s nothing quite like the sight and scent of a real tree, and though they can be expensive to buy year after year, many people prefer to get a fresh one rather than haul a fake one down from the loft – with a reported 25-30 million real trees being sold in the US each year.
However, a social media user called Daniel Reed has warned lovers of real Christmas trees to be on the lookout for any unusual “lumps” on their trees that resemble pine cones, which could end up ruining Christmas if left unattended.
These small lumps are easily concealed and don’t look too out of place amongst the greenery, so it’s no wonder most people may not even notice they have them.
Real Christmas trees can be lovely but come with some pitfalls. Credit: Elizaveta Starkova/Getty
Daniel shared a photo of one of the lumps on Facebook, revealing: “If you happen to see a walnut-sized/shaped egg mass, on your Christmas tree, don’t fret, clip the branch and put it in your garden.
“These are 100-200 praying mantis eggs! We had two egg masses on our tree this year. Don’t bring them inside they will hatch and starve!”
Yep, if they’re left on the tree in a nice warm house those egg masses will likely hatch and unleash hundreds of tiny praying mantises into your home, which – let’s be honest – is a Christmas gift nobody wants to wake up to on Christmas Day.
Plus there’s the fact that if they’re born inside the home, the praying mantises will likely die, so it’s best to get them safely outdoors before that happens so they have the best chance of survival.
As stated on the National Geographic website: “Praying mantises are predatory insects named for the look of their folded forelegs, which are held close together as if praying.”
There are over 2,500 species of praying mantis and they are generally harmless to humans – but still probably not something you’d want to have roaming free around your house nonetheless.
The post was shared almost 185,000 times and many people shared their own experiences with finding egg masses, with one writing: “Missed one on a tree one year […] left town for 4 days […] returned to babies all over… took hours to get them out,” and another added: “We found two on ours thanks for the post I didn’t know what they were.”
As if that wasn’t horrifying enough to scare you into inspecting every inch of your fresh tree, other social media users have found that bugs have come into their home on their trees also.
Many users have taken to TikTok to share their experiences including Jaime Frey, who told her followers: “The time I came home from the airport at 11pm to find our tree hatched a million little bugs.
“Haven’t had a real tree since the trauma of 2020.”
In the clip, she showed her fully-decorated tree had been wrapped up in a white covering and she hadn’t noticed the bugs until she started stepping on them barefoot, as they blended in to the dark wooden floor.
She added in her caption: “I had real trees my whole life until this one. The only way I noticed there were bugs was when I walked in and kicked off my shoes, sat down and realized i had polka dots all over the bottom of my feet. Goodluck out there, may the odds be ever in your favor.”
I think I’ll be sticking to my fake tree and a nice fir-scented candle to add the ambiance from now on…
