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wasps MWEEEP
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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 16 10:46 pm    Post subject: wasps MWEEEP Reply with quote
    

HUGE linky


Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 7:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 9:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Oh my God- that would absolutely freak me!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 16 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 7:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Slim wrote:
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!)


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
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Nick wrote:
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?


Hahaha, no idea how that got in there.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

vegplot wrote:
Slim wrote:
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!)


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
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 16 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

empty picnic baskets?

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