Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/08/wasps-invade-alabama.html
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“Wasps invade Alabama”
They can keep it.
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Though I’m skeptical of what the entomologist says, I want to note that, according to him, these are much less aggressive and therefore less dangerous than the normal subterranean yellow jacket nest.
I’m less sanguine. If a kid got stung and slapped a few, they’d release their “sic-em” pheromones, and there’d be all the more wasps to sting the kid. But that’s not the entomologist’s take on it. Maybe he’s like me and gets tired of the typical Alabama alarmism. If it’s not Jesus or football, we’re supposed to be afraid of it.
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Thanks for bringing up my childhood nightmare after beeing attacked by one. Those things are no joke.
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Can we ship moore there?
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Better put out a PSA: “Whatever you do, do NOT shoot a wasps’ nest!”
That should work.
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Also, a pregnant woman must be extremely careful. Because if she is stung by a wasp, and it causes her to miscarry, she can be charged with manslaughter. Because, after all, it was her fault for getting stung. Not to mention getting pregnant in the first place.
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Ah, you got yourself an Alabama Wasp problem.
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Invading? I thought they were already there.
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Who doesn’t check their eaves regularly in wasp season? Get nests while they’re small, and it’s no problem.
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Wasp it too obvious? I 'ant apologizing.
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Does anyone know how long it takes to build one of these supahlarge nests? And do they start out with 15k wasps, or do other wasps zipping by just think it’s a great neighborhood?
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I’ve never had a nest that big, but I have sprayed a paper wast nest full of wasps with Spectrascide and watching those fuckers die is very satisfying.
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My guess is that the nest starts out small and goes unnoticed until it gets to be big enough to become a problem.
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It usually starts with a relatively sparse nest. You know…the kind where you can just piss off the kiddos running by and have a lark as they run screaming inside. Then it turns into more of a colony where you have to start doing actual work to make the thing functional. After that some burly dude who thinks he’s Rambo comes along with a hose or a rake or some other such nonsense and tries to dislodge your still-small-nest. After you send him right off some lady with enough sense calls an exterminator and then BANG. Time to find new digs before the smoke gets you.
Queen hornet building her kingdom:
This might be the wasps they have in Alabama? brief time-lapse clip:
A month-long time-lapse video of the nest above:
