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[Unicorn]

:laugh2: .... On ya Pedro!

That's the same reaction when I stir up a wasps nest! Run for the hills!

Those great big orange and black ones with the legs that just hang down as they fly.

Worst thing is I usually stir a nest up while I'm on the ride-on so I can't hear that I've upset them and really have to move it to get away. (Probably looks quite funny from a distance!!).

[JeffH]

Been there; done that. Not funny!

[Goldseeker]

:laugh2: .... On ya Pedro!

That's the same reaction when I stir up a wasps nest! Run for the hills!

Those great big orange and black ones with the legs that just hang down as they fly.

Worst thing is I usually stir a nest up while I'm on the ride-on so I can't hear that I've upset them and really have to move it to get away. (Probably looks quite funny from a distance!!).

Me thinks that you stirred up a HORNETS Nest rather than a wasp nest!

[robbiegal]

we have been getting these ones the last couple of years
I have watched one huge wasp drag a very large dead spider right across the back yard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocheilus_bicolor
there was one in the back yard yesterday and then there was a big dead for no reason huntsman on the back steps

it was likely one of those got him

the are huge wasps but don't seem to bother much with us humans

[Unicorn]

Yes the big orange and black ones are a type of Potter Wasp and get up to around 5 to 6cm. They build mud nests with paralysed spiders in them under the wheel arches of cars etc. As you say RG, usually they don't bother you while they're hovering around looking for spiders but they get pretty p'd off if you get too close to their nest.

We've also got several types of paper wasps from the small black ones to the larger black ones that get up to around 4 to 5cm. They make a honeycomb looking nest under eaves etc.

Then there's a totally red type that builds a structure like a hanging circular UFO with holes around the side, they're the worst. When they hatch they all sit under the UFO in numbers. They're around 3 to 4cm and if you interrupt them look out as they're after you in droves (really agressive).

[interest]

The best time kill them is at night when they are in their nest. they are very susceptible to fly spray or you can buy wasp spray from Bunning's which has a powerful spray were you can stand back about three metres & spray.
 "THEY'RE STRIPY yellow and black but they're not the friendly garden pollinators you want in your backyard. European wasps are in plague numbers in Australia this year."
I remember back in the early seventies when these were first found  in Australia there was a hot line to report their presence, but I guess their numbers have gotten out of hand & there is now no way to control them so they have given up.

[trout]

Although wasps freak me out a bit and I react to bee stings, I won't kill any of them I see in my garden because they are rather effective caterpillar eradicators.
As far as I am aware we don't have the European type in the Mid west and they are the native species.
I have been stung by bees but have never been stung by a wasp in Australia "Yet".

[autocoupler]

Then there's a totally red type that builds a structure like a hanging circular UFO with holes around the side, they're the worst. When they hatch they all sit under the UFO in numbers. They're around 3 to 4cm and if you interrupt them look out as they're after you in droves (really agressive).

Had to deal with a nest of these little babies the other week. I followed my Fathers tried and trusted method; roll half a dozen sheets from the newspaper into a funnel shaped thingy then light the top a shove it up under the nest.

[keldaw]

yes auto , that is the old bush way to do it , not many get away when you do that ,
a good old tried and tested way for sure .

[JeffH]

I have had a lot of mud wasps lately, busy collecting mud where I have been working. One is going to have a very strong nest -she was collecting cement mortar from the joints of some concrete blocks I am laying. Very attractive looking creatures with the bright yellow colouring. They take a while to get to normal flying speed with a full load.

Paper wasps are the ones I don't like. You only have to come near a nest to have a mass attack. Like Uni, I was mowing once and brushed a nest in a shrub; completely oblivious of its existence. I abandoned the mower and legged it to a safe distance. Had a very painful back and shoulders, with red welts, for a week after.
Probably did look rather funny but I wasn't laughing.

[Nevol]

They make a honeycomb looking nest under eaves etc.

We had one of these on the deck, about 2-3 ins in diameter, and we just avoided going anywhere near it, then one day a butcher bird pulled it down and ate all the larvae.

[autocoupler]

Paper wasps are the ones I don't like.

Yes, fierce little devils they are. At about the age of six I climbed up on the front fence not noticing a nest under the top rail. Got hit on the chest by at least half a dozen or so, boy was that bloody excruciating :cray: I had a big sook that day!!

[trout]

We got some welcome rain last night, Just as well because we rely on rain water for drinking etc. and the tanks were getting pretty low.
This is the first reasonable fall for a few months :yahoo:

[Unicorn]

That's good news Trout ..... it must have been that rain dance you did around your totem pole dollar!!!

[trout]

That's good news Trout ..... it must have been that rain dance you did around your totem pole dollar!!!

HeHe
It was getting pretty close to having to do something like that :angel: