Very unlikely that they were beetles or beetle eggs. The eggs are so small that you would not hear them unless you had extremely good hearing. More likely it was the burning of the leaves like in a fire. :-) This is not unusual when smoking this time of year in the cold weather.
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I'll take the "non-B-word" path and suggest that it could also be a stem or a really thick vein in the filler/binder
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Nice. Thanks Bob and Kaiser that is what I was hoping. I am still going to keep a close eye on these for a while. The next one I burn I hope to keep the camera handy incase it repeats itself
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A little protein in your cigars yum!
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What I'm the hell are these bettles that Devan keeps talking about? :-)
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I've been hearing that a bit recently when I pull sticks out of my original desktop. It's winter, and it has been a pain to keep the humidity up in it. I figured it was dryness personally, never seen anything to make me think it would be beetles. I really don't think you'd hear the beetles crackling either, though I can't say I've ever smoked one.
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I am quite sure you would hear and see a beetle pop. If you have ever sat by a fire that had wood with bugs in it you see the popping and sparks as they finally explode. Im no smart person but I am sure it has something to do with the bugs hard shell and the moisture in the bugs expanding.

As far as my stick went though I am leaning towards the RH.
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Yes

As far as the beetles popping, cigar beetles are this big -----> *
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:-) The Wise one has spoken
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