The Unmistakable Smell No Louisiana Homeowner Wants to Sniff

If Louisiana food is a gumbo pot of ingredients that come together for a meal you can't describe with words then the same can be said of the odors or fragrances that waft across the vast Cajun Prairie or the Florida Parishes or the Parishes of Louisiana's Crossroads region. 

If you lift your nose to the prevailing wind across Louisiana, depending on what time of year it is, you can smell burning cane fields, flaring petrochemical plants, and the occasional paper mill too. But enough about the smells we've created and brought upon ourselves, let's talk about one smell in particular that should be of major importance to every Louisiana homeowner.

The odor I am speaking of is the one that smells like rotten eggs. If you detect that smell in your home, chances are one of three not-so-good things is happening in the place where you sleep at night and allow your children to play. In each case, you need to do something about the smell to ensure the safety of your family.

First, if you smell rotten eggs and you raise chickens or are forgetful during Easter Egg hunts then you might actually have a rotting embryo in your house. No, it's not particularly dangerous but it stinks to high heaven and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Use your nose to sniff it out and then throw it out.

Believe it or not, that's the best case of our three worst-case scenarios.

Entomologists say if you smell rotten eggs in your home you might have an infestation of "stink bugs". There are a lot of varieties of bugs that qualify as "stink bugs". One of the worst is the Kudzu Bug. It's really making its presence known across Louisiana right now.

To the untrained eye, a Kudzu Bug might look like a green ladybug. To the untrained nose, these bugs can smell like a gas station bathroom after someone who drank a 12-pack of Schlitz Beer just used. The stench from these bugs is known to be so powerful that those who have reported infestations first thought that had a gas leak. Here's how you get rid of the Kudzu Bug.

And you've probably already figured out the third unpleasant option when you smell rotten eggs in your home is the potential gas leak. Natural gas doesn't have an odor so distributors add a chemical to give the gas a distinct smell. The reason is so you'll notice a leak and not blow yourself or your family up.

If you suspect you have a gas leak and have confirmed you don't have bugs or an errant Easter egg you'll want to vacate the home and call your local utility company. They will handle the rest. If you can, it might be a good idea to open doors and windows to prevent leaking gas from gathering in your home. That could lead to a potentially damaging or deadly explosion.

This would probably solve your Easter Egg issue and your Kudzu Bug issue but it probably wouldn't be the most cost-effective way to handle either of those issues. Listen to your nose, if that's even possible, and be cognizant of the fact that a rotten egg smell never means anything good.