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zakur · 23rd August 2006, 04:56 PM

Quote:

To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama.

Specialists say it could be the result of a mild winter and drought conditions, or multiple queens forcing worker yellow jackets to enlarge their quarters so the queens will be in separate areas. But experts haven't determined exactly what's behind the surprisingly large nests.

Auburn University entomologists, who say they've never seen the nests so large, have been fielding calls about the huge nests from property owners from Dothan up to Sylacauga and over into west-central Alabama's Black Belt.

[...]

The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home.

Lisa Simpson · 23rd August 2006, 04:59 PM

Will there be an epic battle with the psycho killer raccoons?

bob_kark · 23rd August 2006, 05:03 PM

I don't think there's enough Raid in existence that would make me go into that barn. There's not even enough Napalm. The picture in that article looks like it was a promo for a horror film.

bob_kark · 23rd August 2006, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Lisa Simpson

Will there be an epic battle with the psycho killer raccoons?

Quote:

"They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid."

I just can't keep the image of Raccoons playing in West Side Story out of my head.

Kaylee · 23rd August 2006, 06:40 PM

More cuts and pastes from the article sited in the OP:

Quote:

In previous years, a yellow jacket nest was no larger than a basketball, Ray said. It would contain about 3,000 workers and one queen. These gigantic nests may have as many as 100,000 workers and multiple queens.

Quote:

…

We're not really sure how this multiple queen thing works," Ray said. "It could be that the daughters of the original queen don't leave the nest or that the queens have developed some way to cooperate."
Ray examined a collected nest from Macon County to count the queens in it.

"We found 12 queens so far, so that's definitely a factor," Ray said Thursday.

Dr. Michael D. Goodisman, a biologist at Georgia Tech who has studied large nests in Australia, said he's heard of some large ones in Georgia and Florida, but not as big as those in Alabama.A 6-foot by 3-foot nest on a pond stump in Bulloch County, Ga., was featured July 12 on CNN.

"I'm not sure people know what triggers it," he said.

I would think that such a radical change in behavior qualifies as evolution in action. I'm glad I don't live near any giant sized nests in NY, but this is pretty cool.

kittynh · 23rd August 2006, 07:35 PM

I'm seriously allergic. I am so dead.

wilks · 23rd August 2006, 11:50 PM

Forgive my ignorance - but is a yellowjacket the same as/similar to a wasp?

If so - WOW

Babylon Sister · 23rd August 2006, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by kittynh

I'm seriously allergic. I am so dead.

Me too. But the worst part is, that nest is in a '55 Chevy! Say it ain't so!

zakur · 24th August 2006, 07:14 AM

Originally Posted by wilks

Forgive my ignorance - but is a yellowjacket the same as/similar to a wasp?

If so - WOW

Yes. Around here, there are three species: German Yellowjacket (Paravespula germanica), Eastern Yellowjacket (Paravespula maculifrons), and the Common Yellowjacket (Paravespula vulgaris).

malaka · 24th August 2006, 07:34 AM

Time to get a new bike...

http://user.it.uu.se/~svens/larverna/normal.html

Khonshu · 24th August 2006, 07:40 AM

Yellowjackets can have a particularly nasty dispositions in the fall and have been known to swarm, sting, and kill people who weren't allergic. You don't want to run over a nest in the fall when you're mowing (trust me). I've been stung 17 times by a single swarm, and was finding them in my clothes hours later trying to find a good spot to sting me. I don't even want to think about one of these super colonies.

juryjone · 24th August 2006, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by bob_kark

The picture in that article looks like it was a promo for a horror film.

H.R. Giger should sue for copyright infringement. I wonder if Ripley is available to clear that nest.

Wudang · 24th August 2006, 07:54 AM

Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

gfunkusarelius · 24th August 2006, 09:01 AM

ive been attacked by the buggers. in the SE US they are well known and feared to those who have been stung for three reasons. one, they nest (usually) in the ground, so it is easy to step on a nest and have an attack (this is what happened to me). two, they swarm and attack in large numbers (i had a couple dozen stings in under a minute- the time it took me to run inside like a banshee while several adults tried to sweep them off my back) and three, they don't lose their stingers and die like bees, they can sting multiple times (i am pretty sure on that last one, but not 100%)
they suck, i hate them. i have almost stepped on nests since then but i have managed to avoid it thus far. they arent killer bees, but they are awful.

Cuddles · 24th August 2006, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by Khonshu

Yellowjackets can have a particularly nasty dispositions in the fall and have been known to swarm, sting, and kill people who weren't allergic. You don't want to run over a nest in the fall when you're mowing (trust me). I've been stung 17 times by a single swarm, and was finding them in my clothes hours later trying to find a good spot to sting me. I don't even want to think about one of these super colonies.

Heh, I did that to a wasps nest once. The next time I mowed the lawn I parked on top of it for about 10 minutes. They've never been back since.

Hagrok · 24th August 2006, 09:22 AM

Yet another reason to never again visit Alabama. *shiver*

alfaniner · 24th August 2006, 09:45 AM

I was running on an unfamiliar trail in the wooded, seldom-visited park, and suddenly got stung 4 times in about 30 seconds. I was wearing my pace recorder and heart monitor at the time. You should see the stats for the next quarter-mile...

kittykatkarma · 24th August 2006, 09:50 AM

Just a thought... Can bees learn to drive?

toddjh · 24th August 2006, 09:51 AM

I had what turned out to be a colony of German yellowjackets building a nest above my ceiling. Needless to say we had an exterminator there within half an hour of discovering it. :P He said they'd been chewing through the drywall for days (it had "turned to mush") and were on the verge of breaking through and swarming into our office.

Anyway, I'm more worried about our new arachnid overlords.

kittykatkarma · 24th August 2006, 10:03 AM

Having grown up on a farm in Western Pennsaylvania, wasp or spider nests in the barn were common, but we also had yellow jacket nests under ground out in our hay fields. While helping with the seasonal bailing one of my sisters stepped right into a large nest and was bitten repeatedly. I don't think I had ever seen her run as fast before, or since that day.

ponderingturtle · 24th August 2006, 10:09 AM

I have heard about large yellowjacket nests in hawia and such before.

SPQR · 24th August 2006, 10:20 AM

From the psycho racoons article:

Quote:

Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night.

When I began to read this paragraph it made it sound like some of the racoons had begun carrying pepper spray.

Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners?

aggle-rithm · 24th August 2006, 10:32 AM

A few years ago I was helping clean up a Boy Scout campground. There was a huge pile of brush that had been cleared a few months ago, and a yellow jacket nest was inside. It was one of those basket-ball sized nests. A few guys put their heads together and decided to tie a rope to the tree trunk that contained the nest and pull it down the road, where they would be well out of range.

Of course, once they started this operation, I got as far away as possible and watched from a distance. Unfortunately, I had suffered a major brain cramp, and had taken refuge by the side of the road right where they were taking the infested tree trunk. By the time it got to me, the wasps were thoroughly pissed. As they swarmed around me, I began to flail furiously (in a manly way, of course), and only discovered a few minutes later that I had sent my glasses flying by the wild swiping at my head.

It was difficult to tell who had hurt me more, the wasps, or myself. But I did find my glasses, eventually.

And yes, I too will be glad to round up slaves for our new overlords to work in their sugar mines....

RenaissanceBiker · 24th August 2006, 11:12 AM

It's not evolution, silly, it's more like a bee-cancer. The bees just start reproducing and the nests just start growing uncontrollably. We need to use a combination of radiation and chemo-therapy. We should simultaneously release a few hundred insect foggers, then nuke the area from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Bonus: some careless kid gets in the way and we create a new superhero.

Euromutt · 24th August 2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by SPQR

Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners?

I'm sorry, but that still doesn't compare to this mental image (from the original article]):

Quote:

Five raccoons actually ganged up on and carried off a little dog, who survived.

I'm just glad I live on the east side. If I'd seen that, I'd have ruptured myself laughing. Mind you, when I step out for a smoke at night now, I do keep my 4 D-cell Maglite handy...

dogjones · 24th August 2006, 01:11 PM

One word: Baygon.

Esperdome · 24th August 2006, 01:34 PM

I killed off a yellowjacket nest 2 days ago. (small, about 4 inches across)

They made it right above the big door on my shop, and I knew if I didn't, I'd get swarmed eventually.

I hate eliminating them since I found out how many parasites these beggers kill. Tent caterpillars in particular around here.

I wonder if their food source has increased dramatically, leading to huge nests in Alabama?

I know some insect populations can multiply overnight like the biblical plagues.
We are experiencing our annual love bug explosion here right now.

Zbu · 24th August 2006, 03:36 PM

Given how populous insects are in the Southern states, this doesn't really surprise me. Good thing I live in Michigan where one good cold snap means the bees will eventually die off or run.

Sad thing? I think there's a nest in my car, and I have to get it junked soon. That I'm not looking forward to.

Cuddles · 24th August 2006, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by SPQR

Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners?

Yes. God yes.

toddjh · 24th August 2006, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by Zbu

Given how populous insects are in the Southern states, this doesn't really surprise me. Good thing I live in Michigan where one good cold snap means the bees will eventually die off or run.

Sad thing? I think there's a nest in my car, and I have to get it junked soon. That I'm not looking forward to.

Do you know where they're coming in and out? If so, easy trick: get a wet/dry shop-vac, fill up the drum with six inches of water and some dish soap, stick the nozzle near the nest entrance, and let it run for an afternoon.

supercorgi · 24th August 2006, 04:50 PM

Quote:

The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home.

What I want to know is why didn't the guy remove the nest when it was just the size of a tire? I can understand if the nest wasn't noticed when it was smaller, such as can happen in abandoned barns, but who in thier right mind wants yellowjacket nests around a working barn.

Hagrok · 24th August 2006, 05:29 PM

Just FYI, bees and yellowjackets are two entirely different insects. For one thing, yellow jackets don't die when they sting you...

Johnny Pneumatic · 24th August 2006, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by kittykatkarma

Just a thought... Can bees learn to drive?

Haven't you ever heard of Drive Bees? They've been around for years and years.

a_unique_person · 24th August 2006, 06:26 PM

Mild winters = global warming.

Checkmite · 24th August 2006, 06:54 PM

Now, who knows the difference between a wasp and a hornet?

No Googling, now!

Ceritus · 24th August 2006, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by a_unique_person

Mild winters = global warming.

Probably! atleast I certainly hope so!

Bring on the Warmth baby!!!!!

aggle-rithm · 25th August 2006, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Joshua Korosi

Now, who knows the difference between a wasp and a hornet?

No Googling, now!

There was no superhero named "The Green Wasp".

Next question.

Kaylee · 25th August 2006, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by RenaissanceBiker

It's not evolution, silly,

You just keep telling yourself that if you like

, our yellowjacket overlords prefer it that way.

Quote:

it's more like a bee-cancer. The bees just start reproducing and the nests just start growing uncontrollably. We need to use a combination of radiation and chemo-therapy. We should simultaneously release a few hundred insect foggers, then nuke the area from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

... .

If I lived near one of thos supersized nests, I definitely bomb them with a few hundered radioactive insect foggers maybe a thousand. Whatever it takes!

WildCat · 25th August 2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

"I'm kind of afraid for the grandkids. I had to sneak down there at dark and get my tractor out of the barn," Coker said. "It's been a disruption."
Coker said he may wait until a winter freeze to try to remove the nest.

Maybe you should have killed them when you first found it 7 years ago, eh f******d?

Dark Jaguar · 25th August 2006, 04:20 PM

On another note, around here I've noticed a large number of wasp nests. They aren't yellow jackets, and the nests aren't big enough to katamari the world (katamari is now a verb, meaning "to engulf in a ridiculous fasion", so sayeth I), but I have noticed more than the usual amount.

I didn't think much of it then, and to be honest I have no reason to think it's anything more than a few more nests being built near me, but I was reminded of it.

At any rate, those nests are easy. A well aimed wide power spray from a garden hose is usually sufficient for the nests around here. This will require some manner of tornado laced with napalm to eliminate (I would love to see that).

23rd August 2006, 04:56 PM	#1
zakur Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 3,265	I, for one, welcome our yellowjacket overlords Giant nests perplex experts Quote: To the bafflement of insect experts, gigantic yellow jacket nests have started turning up in old barns, unoccupied houses, cars and underground cavities across the southern two-thirds of Alabama. Specialists say it could be the result of a mild winter and drought conditions, or multiple queens forcing worker yellow jackets to enlarge their quarters so the queens will be in separate areas. But experts haven't determined exactly what's behind the surprisingly large nests. Auburn University entomologists, who say they've never seen the nests so large, have been fielding calls about the huge nests from property owners from Dothan up to Sylacauga and over into west-central Alabama's Black Belt. [...] The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home.
	__________________ "I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." -Thomas Carlyle "That's the problem these days: nobody thinks of the tumors." -steinhenge

23rd August 2006, 04:59 PM	#2
Lisa Simpson THE Lisa Simpson Administrator Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 123 Fake Street Posts: 20,111	Will there be an epic battle with the psycho killer raccoons?
	__________________ That's what the Internet does -- you get a free bonus prize of Stupid Lies with every box of Delicious Facts. - cracked.com Facts are satanic litter on the heavenly highway to blind faith! - Betty Bowers

23rd August 2006, 05:03 PM	#3
bob_kark Person of Hench Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Globalist H.Q., 25th floor, 5th room on the right. Posts: 4,172	I don't think there's enough Raid in existence that would make me go into that barn. There's not even enough Napalm. The picture in that article looks like it was a promo for a horror film.
	__________________ "You may balk at this, but bob_kark's argument that all major world powers are controlled by a covert group of "insiders" is hopelessly flawed and totally circuitous." - Shemp

23rd August 2006, 05:05 PM	#4
bob_kark Person of Hench Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Globalist H.Q., 25th floor, 5th room on the right. Posts: 4,172	Originally Posted by Lisa Simpson Will there be an epic battle with the psycho killer raccoons? Quote: "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid." I just can't keep the image of Raccoons playing in West Side Story out of my head.
	__________________ "You may balk at this, but bob_kark's argument that all major world powers are controlled by a covert group of "insiders" is hopelessly flawed and totally circuitous." - Shemp

23rd August 2006, 06:40 PM	#5
Kaylee Illuminator Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3,874	More cuts and pastes from the article sited in the OP: Quote: In previous years, a yellow jacket nest was no larger than a basketball, Ray said. It would contain about 3,000 workers and one queen. These gigantic nests may have as many as 100,000 workers and multiple queens. Quote: … We're not really sure how this multiple queen thing works," Ray said. "It could be that the daughters of the original queen don't leave the nest or that the queens have developed some way to cooperate." Ray examined a collected nest from Macon County to count the queens in it. "We found 12 queens so far, so that's definitely a factor," Ray said Thursday. Dr. Michael D. Goodisman, a biologist at Georgia Tech who has studied large nests in Australia, said he's heard of some large ones in Georgia and Florida, but not as big as those in Alabama.A 6-foot by 3-foot nest on a pond stump in Bulloch County, Ga., was featured July 12 on CNN. "I'm not sure people know what triggers it," he said. I would think that such a radical change in behavior qualifies as evolution in action. I'm glad I don't live near any giant sized nests in NY, but this is pretty cool.
Kaylee Illuminator Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3,874	__________________ When everyone think alike, no one thinks very much. -- Walter Lippman''

23rd August 2006, 07:35 PM	#6
kittynh The Hupsu Detective auctioneer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: If I told the aliens could find me, and you know they read this forum Posts: 22,726	I'm seriously allergic. I am so dead.
	__________________ WWW.BADALIEN.ORG - not all the buttons work yet, and the science content is coming...but it's ALIVE!

23rd August 2006, 11:50 PM	#7
wilks Scholar Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 76	Forgive my ignorance - but is a yellowjacket the same as/similar to a wasp? If so - WOW
wilks Scholar Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 76

23rd August 2006, 11:59 PM	#8
Babylon Sister Muse Join Date: May 2003 Location: In the Darkness on the edge of Town Posts: 659	Originally Posted by kittynh I'm seriously allergic. I am so dead. Me too. But the worst part is, that nest is in a '55 Chevy! Say it ain't so!

24th August 2006, 07:14 AM	#9
zakur Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 3,265	Originally Posted by wilks Forgive my ignorance - but is a yellowjacket the same as/similar to a wasp? If so - WOW Yes. Around here, there are three species: German Yellowjacket (Paravespula germanica), Eastern Yellowjacket (Paravespula maculifrons), and the Common Yellowjacket (Paravespula vulgaris).
	__________________ "I do not believe in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." -Thomas Carlyle "That's the problem these days: nobody thinks of the tumors." -steinhenge

24th August 2006, 07:34 AM	#10
malaka Graduate Poster Join Date: May 2002 Location: columbus Posts: 1,169	Time to get a new bike... http://user.it.uu.se/~svens/larverna/normal.html

24th August 2006, 07:40 AM	#11
Khonshu Thinker Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 128	Yellowjackets can have a particularly nasty dispositions in the fall and have been known to swarm, sting, and kill people who weren't allergic. You don't want to run over a nest in the fall when you're mowing (trust me). I've been stung 17 times by a single swarm, and was finding them in my clothes hours later trying to find a good spot to sting me. I don't even want to think about one of these super colonies.
Khonshu Thinker Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 128

24th August 2006, 07:45 AM	#12
juryjone Refusing to be confused by facts Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 879	Originally Posted by bob_kark The picture in that article looks like it was a promo for a horror film. H.R. Giger should sue for copyright infringement. I wonder if Ripley is available to clear that nest.
	__________________ "Humanity is slipping into the void of ignorance while you cheer and wave." - Tirdun, in reference to geggy and the 9/11 conspiracy theorists

24th August 2006, 07:54 AM	#13
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Sheffield Posts: 8,320	Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
	__________________ Aphorism: Subjects most likely to be declared inappropriate for humor are the ones most in need of it. -epepke

24th August 2006, 09:01 AM	#14
gfunkusarelius Critical Thinker Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 442	ive been attacked by the buggers. in the SE US they are well known and feared to those who have been stung for three reasons. one, they nest (usually) in the ground, so it is easy to step on a nest and have an attack (this is what happened to me). two, they swarm and attack in large numbers (i had a couple dozen stings in under a minute- the time it took me to run inside like a banshee while several adults tried to sweep them off my back) and three, they don't lose their stingers and die like bees, they can sting multiple times (i am pretty sure on that last one, but not 100%) they suck, i hate them. i have almost stepped on nests since then but i have managed to avoid it thus far. they arent killer bees, but they are awful.
	__________________ --------------------- "you can't argue with crazy" -not sure http://annoyed-skeptic.blogspot.com/ (my blog)

24th August 2006, 09:11 AM	#15
Cuddles Decoy Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land full of pink fluffy sheeps and bunnies Posts: 16,676	Originally Posted by Khonshu Yellowjackets can have a particularly nasty dispositions in the fall and have been known to swarm, sting, and kill people who weren't allergic. You don't want to run over a nest in the fall when you're mowing (trust me). I've been stung 17 times by a single swarm, and was finding them in my clothes hours later trying to find a good spot to sting me. I don't even want to think about one of these super colonies. Heh, I did that to a wasps nest once. The next time I mowed the lawn I parked on top of it for about 10 minutes. They've never been back since.
	__________________ I am not a little teapot.

24th August 2006, 09:22 AM	#16
Hagrok Muse Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: ABQ, NM, USA Posts: 904	Yet another reason to never again visit Alabama. shiver
	__________________ Indecision may or may not be my problem...

24th August 2006, 09:45 AM	#17
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 11,468	I was running on an unfamiliar trail in the wooded, seldom-visited park, and suddenly got stung 4 times in about 30 seconds. I was wearing my pace recorder and heart monitor at the time. You should see the stats for the next quarter-mile...
	__________________ Science doesn't lie.

24th August 2006, 09:50 AM	#18
kittykatkarma Mew and improved Join Date: May 2006 Location: Slot 3.8 (3rd chassis from the bottom, right most slot) Posts: 503	Just a thought... Can bees learn to drive?
	__________________ Best regards, kittykatkarma

24th August 2006, 09:51 AM	#19
toddjh Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,252	I had what turned out to be a colony of German yellowjackets building a nest above my ceiling. Needless to say we had an exterminator there within half an hour of discovering it. :P He said they'd been chewing through the drywall for days (it had "turned to mush") and were on the verge of breaking through and swarming into our office. Anyway, I'm more worried about our new arachnid overlords.

24th August 2006, 10:03 AM	#20
kittykatkarma Mew and improved Join Date: May 2006 Location: Slot 3.8 (3rd chassis from the bottom, right most slot) Posts: 503	Having grown up on a farm in Western Pennsaylvania, wasp or spider nests in the barn were common, but we also had yellow jacket nests under ground out in our hay fields. While helping with the seasonal bailing one of my sisters stepped right into a large nest and was bitten repeatedly. I don't think I had ever seen her run as fast before, or since that day.
	__________________ Best regards, kittykatkarma

24th August 2006, 10:09 AM	#21
ponderingturtle Orthogonal Vector Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Tarrytown, NY Posts: 26,558	I have heard about large yellowjacket nests in hawia and such before.

24th August 2006, 10:20 AM	#22
SPQR Darwin's Dachshund Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 455	From the psycho racoons article: Quote: Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night. When I began to read this paragraph it made it sound like some of the racoons had begun carrying pepper spray. Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners?
	__________________ "Vetus illud Catonis admodum scitum est, qui mirari se aiebat quod non rideret haruspex haruspicem cum vidisset." (Old Cato always wondered how two fortune-tellers could look at each other without laughing)- Cicero My blog:Jeremy the Skeptic

24th August 2006, 10:32 AM	#23
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,303	A few years ago I was helping clean up a Boy Scout campground. There was a huge pile of brush that had been cleared a few months ago, and a yellow jacket nest was inside. It was one of those basket-ball sized nests. A few guys put their heads together and decided to tie a rope to the tree trunk that contained the nest and pull it down the road, where they would be well out of range. Of course, once they started this operation, I got as far away as possible and watched from a distance. Unfortunately, I had suffered a major brain cramp, and had taken refuge by the side of the road right where they were taking the infested tree trunk. By the time it got to me, the wasps were thoroughly pissed. As they swarmed around me, I began to flail furiously (in a manly way, of course), and only discovered a few minutes later that I had sent my glasses flying by the wild swiping at my head. It was difficult to tell who had hurt me more, the wasps, or myself. But I did find my glasses, eventually. And yes, I too will be glad to round up slaves for our new overlords to work in their sugar mines....
	__________________ To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion. Woo's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by aliens.

24th August 2006, 11:12 AM	#24
RenaissanceBiker Eats shoots and leaves. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Carolina Posts: 6,869	It's not evolution, silly, it's more like a bee-cancer. The bees just start reproducing and the nests just start growing uncontrollably. We need to use a combination of radiation and chemo-therapy. We should simultaneously release a few hundred insect foggers, then nuke the area from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Bonus: some careless kid gets in the way and we create a new superhero.

24th August 2006, 12:13 PM	#25
Euromutt Graduate Poster Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Auburn, WA, USA Posts: 1,094	Originally Posted by SPQR Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners? I'm sorry, but that still doesn't compare to this mental image (from the original article]): Quote: Five raccoons actually ganged up on and carried off a little dog, who survived. I'm just glad I live on the east side. If I'd seen that, I'd have ruptured myself laughing. Mind you, when I step out for a smoke at night now, I do keep my 4 D-cell Maglite handy...
	__________________ "Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He’d been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a post-graduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In the Pub Told Me." - Terry Pratchett, Jingo by birth, by choice

24th August 2006, 01:11 PM	#26
dogjones Graduate Poster Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bermuda Posts: 1,286	One word: Baygon.
	__________________ It's great being ideologically flexible.

24th August 2006, 01:34 PM	#27
Esperdome Remedial Humorist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,066	I killed off a yellowjacket nest 2 days ago. (small, about 4 inches across) They made it right above the big door on my shop, and I knew if I didn't, I'd get swarmed eventually. I hate eliminating them since I found out how many parasites these beggers kill. Tent caterpillars in particular around here. I wonder if their food source has increased dramatically, leading to huge nests in Alabama? I know some insect populations can multiply overnight like the biblical plagues. We are experiencing our annual love bug explosion here right now.
	__________________ "My Ed, but you are perhaps the most perplexing poster this forum has ever encountered." Rob Lister Junior Tosser, Loose popgun below decks. Visit The Dome "If it keeps on raining, the levee's going to break." Led Zeppelin

24th August 2006, 03:36 PM	#28
Zbu Critical Thinker Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 466	Given how populous insects are in the Southern states, this doesn't really surprise me. Good thing I live in Michigan where one good cold snap means the bees will eventually die off or run. Sad thing? I think there's a nest in my car, and I have to get it junked soon. That I'm not looking forward to.

24th August 2006, 04:08 PM	#29
Cuddles Decoy Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: A magical land full of pink fluffy sheeps and bunnies Posts: 16,676	Originally Posted by SPQR Can you imagine these psycho racoons carrying mace and iron pipes with their little hands, chasing down pets and their owners? Yes. God yes.
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24th August 2006, 04:40 PM	#30
toddjh Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,252	Originally Posted by Zbu Given how populous insects are in the Southern states, this doesn't really surprise me. Good thing I live in Michigan where one good cold snap means the bees will eventually die off or run. Sad thing? I think there's a nest in my car, and I have to get it junked soon. That I'm not looking forward to. Do you know where they're coming in and out? If so, easy trick: get a wet/dry shop-vac, fill up the drum with six inches of water and some dish soap, stick the nozzle near the nest entrance, and let it run for an afternoon.

24th August 2006, 04:50 PM	#31
supercorgi Dog Everlasting Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: State of Confusion, Massachusetts, USA Posts: 2,525	Quote: The largest nest Ray has inspected this year filled the interior of a weathered 1955 Chevrolet parked in a rural Elmore County barn. That nest was about the size of a tire in the rear floor seven weeks ago, but quickly spread to fill the entire vehicle, the property owner, Harry Coker, said. Four satellite nests around it have gotten into the eaves of the barn, about 300 yards from his home. What I want to know is why didn't the guy remove the nest when it was just the size of a tire? I can understand if the nest wasn't noticed when it was smaller, such as can happen in abandoned barns, but who in thier right mind wants yellowjacket nests around a working barn.
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24th August 2006, 05:29 PM	#32
Hagrok Muse Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: ABQ, NM, USA Posts: 904	Just FYI, bees and yellowjackets are two entirely different insects. For one thing, yellow jackets don't die when they sting you...
	__________________ Indecision may or may not be my problem...

24th August 2006, 05:57 PM	#33
Johnny Pneumatic Corpuscle Clay Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 2,089	Originally Posted by kittykatkarma Just a thought... Can bees learn to drive? Haven't you ever heard of Drive Bees? They've been around for years and years.
	__________________ If we don't play god, who will?-James Watson What the hell is the matter with you people? Get your minds into the gutter!-Dorian Gray Good Lord - I've heard about this - cat juggling! Stop! Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Good. Father, could there be a God that would let this happen?- Navin R. Johnson, The Jerk There is nothing to believe in. There's no need to believe...There is nothing to believe in in this world. -Vicious, Cowboy Bebop

24th August 2006, 06:26 PM	#34
a_unique_person Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Mt Disappointment Posts: 33,466	Mild winters = global warming.
	__________________ *Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity.* Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. For if a man pretend to me that God hath spoken to him supernaturally, and immediately, and I make doubt of it, I cannot easily perceive what argument he can produce to oblige me to believe it. Hobbes

24th August 2006, 06:54 PM	#35
Checkmite Skepticifimisticalationist Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Third in line Posts: 14,979	Now, who knows the difference between a wasp and a hornet? No Googling, now!
	__________________ "¿WHAT KIND OF BIRD? ¿A PARANORMAL BIRD?" --- Carlos S., 2002