wasps MWEEEP

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wasps MWEEEP
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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 16 10:46 pm Post subject: wasps MWEEEP
HUGE linky

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 7:09 am Post subject:
Luckily wasps usually inhabit a nest for only one year. That is a huge one, although I think one I saw on a cable drum many years ago when I was working was in excess of 2' across. The tunnel is particularly interesting.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 8:10 am Post subject:
I saw this on FB. that would give you a freight when you went up for the decorations in December!

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 9:02 am Post subject:
Oh my God- that would absolutely freak me!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 9:08 am Post subject:
rugby ball size is the biggest i have found, with that one it was full of very cross wasps and about a third of it attached to the roof tile in my hand. nowt wrong with a 15 ft jump to safety off a kitchen extension

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 10:31 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

rugby ball size is the biggest i have found, with that one it was full of very cross wasps and about a third of it attached to the roof tile in my hand. nowt wrong with a 15 ft jump to safety off a kitchen extension

something similar happened here while himself was up a ladder moving the ridge tiles.
he returned with a blow torch and a tennis racket zapper. foolish boy...

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 16 2:19 pm Post subject:

We had one almost that large on the front of my house growing up. Bald-faced hornets. Nasty buggers. We got rid of it on year 3 as they started stinging us with no provocation (I'm thinking they got big enough that they felt they had a bigger territory to defend)

A year or two later a hive of ground wasps that had burrowed in right next to the foundation got scooped out and eaten up by a bear. It was good work by the bear as we hadn't managed an easy way to get rid of the nest up until then (previously tried flooding, even spray!)

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 7:28 am Post subject:
The badgers in our woods tend to go for bumble bees nests. One year some hornets built their nest in a fallen tree quite close to the ground, and by the evidence, a badger went for that one. No idea who won on that encounter, but must have given the badger a shock.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:47 am Post subject:
I found an old one in the roof when renovating. About the size of a beach ball, so relatively big then. After we finished they set up iMessage again and At night I could here them munching. Ptobably turning my insulation into nest.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:48 am Post subject:

Behemoth wrote:

I found an old one in the roof when renovating. About the size of a beach ball, so relatively big then. After we finished they set up iMessage again and At night I could here them munching. Ptobably turning my insulation into nest.

Smart wasps. Did they Facetime, too?

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:57 am Post subject:

Slim wrote:

Our animal arsenal is paltry by comparison. One mildly poisonous snake the occasional hornet, clegs, and midges are about all we can muster.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 10:02 am Post subject:

Nick wrote:

Behemoth wrote:

Smart wasps. Did they Facetime, too?

Hahaha, no idea how that got in there.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 11:10 am Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

Slim wrote:

Our animal arsenal is paltry by comparison. One mildly poisonous snake the occasional hornet, clegs, and midges are about all we can muster.

We have a poisonous snake species, but it's incredibly endangered and locations in a small ridge area are kept fairly secret to try to give them a chance at surviving. I don't know anyone that has seen one. Other than that, no poisonous spiders. Biggest concerns are Lyme's disease from ticks, and triple E or west nile from mosquito bites (rarely a threat to humans).

Bears are big, but we only have black bears, so they're a lot like big lazy woodland dogs. There are occasionally individuals that get too used to humans and need to be put down, but it's usually humans fault for leaving out greasy trash, or leaving bird feeders up past hibernation season.

A good relevant story to go with this: https://www.wcax.com/story/17409406/gov-shumlin-chased-by-bears-in-backyard

Bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, and fishers don't bother people much, but they do occasionally eat housecats. Coyotes are probably the most visible, and definitely the most audible. They typically fear people, though there was one very surprising incident where they killed a young woman in Canada: https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/29/canada.singer.killed/

Really if you were to visit our woods the only warnings you would get would be about black fly season in the early spring (nasty buggers) and mosquitoes in general, and to watch for hunters during bear and buck season.

Does poison ivy grow in the UK? I guess that could be considered a nasty, though I don't react to it.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 3:06 pm Post subject:
I visited the Shenandoah Valley at Easter. Although we didn't see a bear we found enough evidence of them in the woods to confirm the old adage.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Sep 30, 16 3:43 pm Post subject:
empty picnic baskets?

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