What great pictures. That nest is kind of beautiful. We have muddobbers, mostly. There are some red wasps that make paper nests, but they aren't the same design nor nearly as pretty.
I think those are either bald (or white) faced hornets or yellow jackets. http://www.beewrangler.com/identifying.htm They sure make cool nests!
The most common type of wasp around here is the mud dauber. We find their nests all over and they frequently get trapped in the house. I usually just let them buzz around on the upper windows until they eventually keel over. The only time one of us has been stung is when a half dead wasp was on our bed one night and we didn't realize it. Danny flopped down right on top of it.
I know there are paper wasps out here, too, since I often see their abandoned nests, but I don't know if I've ever seen the insects themselves.
That is a HUGE nest, honey! Hubby knocks them down regularly around here although we don't get them that big. He also sprays the heck out of them and them truly does work..... xoxo, Connie
OUCH! That is huge. I just learned alot about wasps. Really never viewed their nest as a work of art..but it really is when you look close. Great photos, good thing you had a zoom lens.
I had one of those earlier this summer. It was built around a ...bird house... had to throw the whole mess away. Silly things. They have stung one of the kiddos in the back yard, so I have to be on the look out for them.
My son once found an empty wasp nest, it really looks very strange. He kept it for quite a long time and it looked exactly like on your photos. I wonder if we still have it in our basement. It had a lot of success in his school, the teacher was pleased to show it around.
Scary! We always get wasps around our house because I don't spray. Considering I am allergic to the sting its pretty silly hey? I just don't have the heart to kill all the other bugs too.
Very nice pictures. :) I have some sort of wasps living in the eave where it meets the chimney. They don't bother me - so they get free room and board.
My brother Mike emailed me this photo last night. He said this was a goodbye salute that he snapped today in his garage where this old freezer has been chugging away since 1988. That was the year our mama decided she was tired of bending over and digging through it. Besides, she no longer needed the capacity and hadn't for several years. Mike and my sister-in-law spent the next 25 years "digging" through this old freezer. My sis-in-law was very good at keeping it and the cupboards stocked. The two of them kept promising each other that "It is going to die soon, so we will just keep it until that day." Twenty-five years may seem like a very long life for a freezer. It is MUCH older than that. Sears only sold Coldspot through 1976. I thought that my parent's purchased this freezer in the sixties. My brother said he put the serial number 'on-line' and it matched a 1953 manufacturing date. Here is a close up of...
Karmyn is the host of Fun Monday this week with a subject that is near and dear to her heart. Not to mention her knees and fingers. But I mentioned them anyway. The subject? --- What's Growing In Your Garden. As soon as I signed up I grabbed my camera and headed out the back door. Alyssum, lady's mantle, gaillardia, Jupiter beard, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember is blooming in this photo. We didn't put as many annuals in this year so I miss all the yellows and reds that we often enjoy. But, something else showed up in that surprised me. Can it be that my yard is haunted? Cheeky little ghost! A shot from the deck near the hammock shows off some ornamental grass, petunias, pond plants ... and that bold apparitio...
The sweet little digital camera that the hubby purchased (after I dropped our old one) has encouraged me to do a little more walking. Last week I took it with me when I walked up the "creek" path, which doubles for joggers and bikers as well. I've seen beavers, mink, deer, birds, birds, birds, and once the tail end of a bear run running away through the brush. Of course, without a camera. Now I carry it often. This time I was watching the Belted King Fisher performing an acrobatic display and chattering at the ducks and geese in his fishing territory. I was zooming in on him in a tree across the water when I spotted what I thought was a huge wasp or hornet nest very high in the tree. (Thanks to Susan for bringing up bee's today.) The heavy binoculars were at home, so I continued to try to see it through my camera. Then, a weird movement caught my eye. What I thought was a giant paper wasp nest was really a Great Blue Heron sleeping on one leg with his head ben...
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They sure make cool nests!
The most common type of wasp around here is the mud dauber. We find their nests all over and they frequently get trapped in the house. I usually just let them buzz around on the upper windows until they eventually keel over. The only time one of us has been stung is when a half dead wasp was on our bed one night and we didn't realize it. Danny flopped down right on top of it.
I know there are paper wasps out here, too, since I often see their abandoned nests, but I don't know if I've ever seen the insects themselves.
xoxo,
Connie
it looked like a severed head, hanging on the wall.