Bazza Posted May 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Re: The Last Word yeah, that'll do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted May 8, 2007 Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Re: The Last Word I have a thing about yellowjackets myself. A very bad' date=' very unnerving experience several years ago...[/quote'] We have a feud. They sting me at every opportunity and I kill off their nests when I find them. Though it's been a few years that the feud has been active. I find if you attack them at night, they're more sluggish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 8, 2007 Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Re: The Last Word Phylum Arthropoda in general ... specifically including wasps ... have a Weakness for cold-based attacks, though getting one with a satisfactory range can be difficult. What a CO2 extinguisher does to an obnoxious bug can be heartwarming (pun intended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 8, 2007 Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Re: The Last Word I will have to remember to keep one of those with me, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted May 8, 2007 Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Re: The Last Word For daytime operations, I used to use a lighted can of Hornet spray. Got the wings off if they came at me. For the more eco friendly, night time, shovel and boiling water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word All of the above sound like they require my getting too close. I remember once that there was a wasp in my apartment, and the cat kept chasing it. So I trapped it and let it outside to keep it from stinging the cat. I'd've killed it, but my experience with wasps is that it takes more than a single swat. And after the first, they're MAD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SatinKitty Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word A few years ago there were a few small paper wasp nests over our door. Maitenance took care of them. My Parent's house is all wood on the outside and they have a wooden deck. They always have had problems with Carpenter Bees on the deck, and last year a woodpecker decided to drill right through the wall into their attic. Now woodpeckers aren't dumb, and there were plenty of overhangings and eves it could have nested in, but it insisted on drilling. When my Parents had the hole covered by a metal plate, it just drilled a new one angling into the old one. Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Hmm. I once had a woodpecker nesting inside the shingles two inches away from my sleeping head. THAT was a weird way to wake up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Hmm. I once had a woodpecker nesting inside the shingles two inches away from my sleeping head. THAT was a weird way to wake up. Now if you could have set it like an alarm clock. It wouldn't have been so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Hmm. I once had a woodpecker nesting inside the shingles two inches away from my sleeping head. THAT was a weird way to wake up.built-in alarm clock edit: Tim had the same idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Out west, there's a species of woodpecker called the acorn woodpecker; they live in scrub oak country, down in California, Arizona, etc. As their name suggests, their preferred food is acorns. (Acorn production there, at least, can vary drastically from year to year, so storage is necessary.) They live communally (in groups of 6 or 8) and save acorns in holes they drill into trees. An acorn storage tree will have tens of thousands of holes drilled into it; a group will generally have half a dozen such trees close together (and close to the communal nest) that they use to tide them from season to season. Occasionally they will decide to turn a wooden building into an acorn storage facility. This is a major for the owner, obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word I wonder if we can just get the woodpeckers some storage units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Bah. Those things are expensive; trees are free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Acorn woodpecker on a tree. Note the acorns in the holes studding the treetrunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Wow. That can't be terribly good for the tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word They prefer large dead trees. They've been known to use utility poles and buildings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Hmm. Yeah, Nature is an avid recycler. It's also a real b****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word They prefer large dead trees. They've been known to use utility poles and buildings. Hmm. Yeah, Nature is an avid recycler. It's also a real b****. cybernetic acorn woodpecker = The New Borg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Borg recycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Borg recycle? cybernetic acorn woodpecker assimilate dead trees, power poles, log cabins, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Nah, they're just reusing them, not making them into worker-trees with woodpecker tendencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word although that would be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Actually, yeah, it would. And it would make the woodpeckers' jobs easier if the acorn-bearing trees just drilled themselves and stuffed their acorns in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word Well, the scrubby oaks that make the acorns those guys eat tend not to get that big. The big trees there are old pines, mostly. So it's a division of arboreal labor, from the woodpecker point of view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Re: The Last Word I thought pine was a harder wood than oak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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