Wasps - a rant

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GeeBee45

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I know that they are do gooders in the spring and early summer but why can't they cooperate and just die off after that??

Bertha had finished her tea (the most important thing in her life after breakfast) last night and then suddenly started bouncing around on the end of her lead rope. This is not a good thing as shes' quite capable of snapping ropes and head collars (why does half cut through string never snap when it should?). Once we'd got back to a calmer horse; foot stamping, snorting and head tossing found a wasp just below her withers, said insect had got it's stinger embedded into madam for some reason only known to insect kind. Managed to get wasp off, alas it managed to fly off before Bertha or I had the pleasure of killing it. Bertha was quiet happy to go back in field, the treats probably helped.

Fast forward to this morning. She now has a lump approx 1 cm high and about the same size as a side plate. It doesn't seem to bother her but I'd rather not put her saddle on until it has gone down.

If anybody knows where I can sign up to go on a wasp extermination course please forward the details, I can feel a whole new career coming on.

Have a nice (wasp free) day.
 
my garden is full of them, they seem to love the willow tree next door which overhangs my dog yard:rolleyes: big stupid dog rolled on one the other day and got stung, then he tried to eat a bee who had come to join the party:rolleyes: happily neighbour has asked hubby to chop the tree down as it's got too big, he's already got his pest controller mate on standby with a beekeeper suit pmsl:D
 
Oh dear, poor horsie. Glad it's not causing any discomfort, though.
This year I've only seen about 3 wasps all summer. Perhaps that's why - not really been a summer!!!!!!!!
Hope it's better soon.
 
They are getting drowsy now, not long til they die off. I had to chuck one out of the house last night, it wasn't even attempting to fly. Big so and so, too, hope it wasn't a queen.
 
I don't like wasps but won't kill them unless they are bothering me. Even if they are in the house so long as they stick to the windows and don't fly at me then I catch and release. I hate this time of year though as they start to die off and they will fly and attack anything. The minute they detect food of any source they are there! I don't like them landing on me because I have been stung 3 times by them even when not doing anything at them.
There was one occasion which looking back is funny but wasn't at the time.
I was outside painting a metal run and one flew at me. I put the tin down and ran. Forgetting completely that the bar across the doorway was a bit lower as the ground was sloping. So instead of ducking I ran straight into a solid steel bar with my head. It was like an episode of Tom and Jerry, instead of going forwards I went backwards as I bounced back with such a force it threw me to the ground. Tore a muscle in my leg in the process, almost scalped myself and needed quite a few stitches in my head. Never seen so much blood in my life as I looked like Carrie. Had a giggle with the nurse afterwards in A&E whilst she stitched me up as I had a quiff of hair sticking up due to dried blood and she kept saying about the film There's something about Mary lol.
Still have the scar for my sins under my hair and wish now I had let the damned thing try and sting me.
OP I think your horsey got away quite lightly really with the sting, because although it is a lump now just think what she may have had if she had panicked and run as I did and ended up in a pickle.
Hope she is soon better though, as wasp stings are quite keen, hence why I don't stand there and let them try to get me.
 
They dont normally bother me but last year they decided to make nests all over the yard in the most inappropriate places. I went out put the jumps up in the arena and grabbed the base of the polyjump wing putting my hand straight through a nest and spent the next fifteen minutes trying to avoid a cloud of angry wasps (cue comedy sprint across the arena with arms flapping). The blue tarpauline was next, then the eaves of two stables so I'm afraid I've got to the no tolerance point now and they get irradicated on sight!
 
A funny wasp story - my sister and I shared a bedroom as kids and we had wasps coming in through our bedroom window - far too many for comfort.

Dad decided to make a wasp trap from a jam jar, part filled with water and jam and the lid on with a hole in the top - he leant out of the window and started hammering in a nail to hang it on - next minute dad and wasps seen running fast out of the room and down the stairs! They weren't impressed with dads handywork and started to attack him. They were living behind the tiles of the bay window of our bedroom, the noise was amazing - you could hear them humming away behind the plaster..

Same evening - he went into the loft to get down the suitcases - we were heading off on holiday the next day and there in the attic was a massive wasp nest hanging from the rafters. Exit dad in a hurry minus suitcases.

Pest control called first thing and they puffed some powder into the nest in the attic and the wall. Once dead the pest controller brought the nest out and cut it in half for us kkids to look at. It was amazing. To think a tiny insect can create the materials to make the nest from wood stripped off fences, turn it into a maleable mix and then build a massive nest with cells for the babies so perfectly formed.

Can you imagine us being able to do the same thing with no training?

I loathe wasps with a passion since my sister got badly stung on the beach. She sat on a whole load having a snack on her sandwich.
 
I have a wasps nest in my horses field. He had irittated them at some pont as he had fallen over & then some how managed to faceplant as well in the ground. Not nice as the ground is soo hard! had to get physio out to him. He is ok now bless him & hoave moved fields.
BUT hoe do yu get rid of these horrid things. Not good that I have reactions to the stings as well!! So I doublee hate them!
Any ideas???????
 
They come and sit on the horses bottoms, que scared beginner that theres a wasp there and desperate attempts by staff trying to get rid of the wasp without stinging self, customer or horse. It looks quite funny but could do without it!
 
Horrid things!!
They are one insect that really do scare me, bees I don't mind at all but those little buggers sting you for no reason. However I won't kill if I can help it, I'd rather just catch and let go - or get the boyfriend in....:o:p

J20 bottles are WICKED for catching them - when we were camping we must have been amongst a nest - there was hundreds - so we put an almost empty J20 bottle in the middle of camp, and they fly in and cant fly out again we must have caught 30 or 40.
K x
 
laurahayley said:
I have a wasps nest in my horses field. He had irittated them at some pont as he had fallen over & then some how managed to faceplant as well in the ground. Not nice as the ground is soo hard! had to get physio out to him. He is ok now bless him & hoave moved fields.
BUT hoe do yu get rid of these horrid things. Not good that I have reactions to the stings as well!! So I doublee hate them!
Any ideas???????
Click to expand...

Contact your local council or look in your yellow pages under pest control. The other thing to do if you are brave enough is to burn them. Wait until evening and they have returned home, then pour on petrol and set fire to the nest - nest is basically paper - chewed wood, so goes up really fast.
 
I hate HATE HATEthem!

We used to own an old house in France and one visit we could hear a buzzing in the bedroom wall and while dropping off to sleep I could swear I could hear 'munching' sounds!

Next visit, the bedroom was full of thousands of dead wasps - they had come in and couldn't get out. The noise was still in the wall. We found a little hole and made it a bit bigger; out they poured! Like something out of a horror film! :eek:

We filled the room with poison spray and sealed up the hole. I think they all died as they seemed to have gone when we went back next. We sold the house before the next 'wasp season' so I don't know if they ever came back.

Also, our old dog used to eat the windfall apples in the garden and often ate a wasp along with them! She ended up being rushed to the vet for antihistamine injections time after time! (Her head swelled up to twice its size - which was pretty huge as she was a very big-headed bull mastiff to start with!!)

I think they are the devil's children! :p
 
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