Out of the rat race into the beetle race (oravanpyörästä kisaan kuoriaisia vastaan)

Mick often talks about how we are trying to get out/stay out of the rat race (or have succeeded in some parts): no bank loan, no need for nine to five (or in Finland eight to four) jobs, no busy city life etc. So we try to live with out being in that rat race but now we are in a race against the beetles!

When you cut trees down the fresh cut down bark on the tree starts to attract beetles. The beetles come fast and they lay eggs in the bark and then the baby beetles start to eat the bark.
Luckily here (at least the beetles we have) don't eat further than the bark. Or they do go a bit into the timber but not so much that it would be harmed by these. So actually the race is not that bad. When we were peeling boards this week we found many beetles like in this picture and also some other type of beetles but the harm that they had done was small and the marks easily peeled away. And once you take the bark away the beetles are not interested any more. So we win!

A funny fact: Rat race in finnish is oravanpyörä which is literally translated "squirrel wheel"
Hassu fakta: oravanpyörä englanniksi on rat race eli "rotta kilpailu"