FYI

[ga.prime]

Skunks will eat them, armadillos too. I didn't know foxes would. Foxes have mostly been displaced here by coyotes.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

i was driving T post a few years back, and in between drives i heard what sounded like a weed eater.... looked around nothing looked up and there they were a swarm right over the top off me... i must have called them up with the rythm of the driving or they didnt like it.. either way i lit a shuck :cowboy:

 

[lavacarancher]

I don't really understand why it is you find more yellow jacket nests in the fall of the year. I've been told they split their nests and seperate. Been told they don't always do this and the result is a mega-nest. Here is one I found a few years ago. I probably have posted the pick before but it still amazes me. And yes, it is yellow jackets. I suspect due to the high water table in this swamp they were forced to go up rather than down. Came very close to pushing this tree down with a cabless d8. I doubt I'd be typing this had it happened.

Here is another mega nest that was found near where Grannysoo lives.

Holy Cow, Jo. I don't think I've ever seen a nest that big before. These are Yellow jackets? The YJ's around my part of the country don't have nests like that but then, they're certainly not that big either. We have Red Wasps and Yellow jackets and used to have Black Wasps. Except for the Dirt Daubers they all have similar nests which are honey comb shaped cells where they lay their eggs and hatch their young 'uns.

Years ago I saw a nest similar to these but folks called the varmints inside hornets. There was a really big hornets nest under a one lane wooden bridge on the way to town that Grand Dad always got the horses going in a full gallop before crossing. Once, while carrying a load of tomatoes to town using mules, we didn't quite get up enough speed and we got popped a couple of times before getting away.

I have a nest of killer bees in a hollow in a tree that I would sure like to get rid of. I've tried the spray bombs you set off in your house and that didn't work - just peed them off. I think next time will be gasoline.

Be careful, Jo. A nest as big as those will have several thousand wasps and they can hurt you.

 

[Jogeephus]

Lava, yes they are definitely yellow jackets. I stood within 20 feet of them and watched them through a pair of binoculars and it was like peering into the bowls of hades. These are not normal nests but what they call mega nests which for some reason they build when they don't divide the hives up like they normally do. If you have yellow jackets in your area you will probably also have these type nests but they are extremely rare. Every few years you hear about children falling into an underground mega nest and its usually not a happy story. I ran into an underground one about 15 years ago and the opening was a good 3 foot across. It scared me to death. I tried to run but got tangled up and fell and just laid there in a fetal postion waiting to die but they never stung me so I crawled out like a coward. :lol2:

 

[RD-Sam]

Jo, I just figured out who you are, Earnest T Bass! :banana:

 

[Ryder]

Jo, I just figured out who you are, Earnest T Bass! :banana:

Good! Good! Good!
That explains a lot of things.
:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[ga.prime]

I was in the front of a boat fishing in the Altamaha river a few years ago when we went to tie up to a stump near the bank. I had already tied the boat before I saw the yellow jackets pouring out of the stump- it turned out to be a stump on the end of a partially submerged log that floated up and down with the water level- I quickly untied while hollering at the motor operator to get us back out in the river. At the same time I was frantically waving my hat in my face to keep the yellowjackets out of my eyes. Couldn't even count the stings- must've been 50 or more. For those that don't have experience with yellowjackets- they don't just chase you a few feet from the nest and leave you alone like ordinary wasps do- they chase you for 2 or 3 football fields away from their nest.

 

[Angus Cowman]

worst experience I had with yellow jackets was several yrs ago
I was brushogging and my wife(ex wife) pulled up to bring me some dinner I stopped the tractor and she was walking up towards it and I had stopped over a ground nest with the hog and they swarmed her
I got her back in the truck and had to strip off her shirt because they were all over her
she had over 50 bites from her waist to her neck
I rushed her to the drs office and they gave her a shot
we weren't taking any chances because her dad was highly allergic to wasp and bee stings
by the time we got the Dr she was already having chills and sweating real bad
they gave her a shot and she was fine but real sore for a few days

when I went back to brushogg
I had to carry a can of the good wasp spray to get back to the tractor as they were stilll really pi$$ed off a couple hrs later

 

[Jogeephus]

worst experience I had with yellow jackets was several yrs ago
I was brushogging and my wife(ex wife) pulled up to bring me some dinner I stopped the tractor and she was walking up towards it and I had stopped over a ground nest with the hog and they swarmed her
I got her back in the truck and had to strip off her shirt because they were all over her
she had over 50 bites from her waist to her neck
I rushed her to the drs office and they gave her a shot
we weren't taking any chances because her dad was highly allergic to wasp and bee stings
by the time we got the Dr she was already having chills and sweating real bad
they gave her a shot and she was fine but real sore for a few days

when I went back to brushogg
I had to carry a can of the good wasp spray to get back to the tractor as they were stilll really pi$$ed off a couple hrs later

I wish I had thought of doing that to my X. Good for you! :tiphat: :lol2: :lol2:

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

If you find the hole -- mark it and come back at night and dump that powder chemical -- Sevin -- the little buggers then have to crawl through it to get out and don't make it very far past the top of the hole. ;-)