The creepy crawly thread.....

[Wayne Little]

Nuke the entire site from orbit...it's the only way to be sure!....:LOL:

 

[A4K]

Bloody wasps - I hate them too.
There is a wasp killing powder (can't remember name, but should be on the net) - enough if you dump a bomb of that over the nest (at night as Mike said). The survivors of the initial dose will drag the stuff into the nest when they enter, killing the rest.
(Great for hitting wasps that build nests in the ground, just dump the stuff around the mouth of the nest and you're away).

 

[mikewint]

A4K, have never heard of a powder and to my way of thinking you'd have to get to close to the nest and it will take time to work. The spray works almost instantly. There are tons of wasps colony/hornets around here (Arkansas), though the ones around here are mostly the mud-dauber type which are seldom agressive. I buy a case of this stuff and keep a can on the deck, garage, patio, on the boats, etc. Last year I had a huge nest inside the rolled up bridge cover. I emptied an entire can into the opening and the wasps (dead) came out like a waterfall. Counted 48 on the deck plus a few that survived.
There are traps also but I have never had any that work except for yellow-jackets which come to sugar. I always have several that come to my hummingbird feeders. This is the stuff I use as it is fairly cheap and often comes in a two pack

 

[RabidAlien]

I've heard a home-remedy for wasp nests that involves mixing dish detergent with water (1:4 mixture, I think it was) and applying it with some sort of spray bottle (night attacks seem to be the consensus). The soap coats the wasps and suffocates them, but doesn't drive them into the chemical-burn frenzy that traditional wasp killer sprays do. Never tried it, myself, so I can't quote from experience. But I too hate wasps, and any method of killing them is fine with me (although I tend to favor nuking from orbit...).

 

[Florence]

Apparently a CO2 fire extinguisher will work as well....

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Gasoline kills INSTANTLY! And I do mean INSTANTLY. Only draw back, it will probably kill the cacti.

 

[A4K]

A4K, have never heard of a powder and to my way of thinking you'd have to get to close to the nest and it will take time to work.

There is a powder Mike, we used it on an island I once lived on to get rid of some of the local German Wasp population. They built their nests in cliff banks and under large bushes, and you couldn't go anywhere without running into one nest or another. We'd wait till night, then go and bomb the entrances (quickly!) with a sh!tload of this stuff -did the trick! (Just buggered if I can remember the name of the stuff now...)

 

[mikewint]

A4K, I totally believe you, there used to be a very toxic insicticide powder Bendiocarb available maybe 30 years ago that was withdrawn from US markets as the companies did not want to do the required testing as it was also toxic to fish and birds. There are also a number of synthetic pyrethroids (naturally occuring insecticide in Chrysanthemum flowers) that are available in powder (often mixed in water then sprayed).
ABW, Never tried it (gasoline) either, but then I have an adversion to spraying gasoline on or around my new house. You'd have to be very careful when spraying. CO2 will of course instantly freeze the critters. I have also used the detergent water mix but as a repellent, seems the chewers don't like the taste of detergent, but it also washes off in the rain

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Caught this little fellow wandering along the deck banister when I went out to the garden for some mint this evening.

 

[Wayne Little]

Did a cat cough up a fur ball....

 

[mikewint]

If I am not mistaken those spines are like small needles. Its like haveing steelwool slivers in your hand

 

[RabidAlien]

I think you're right about the spines. Slightly poisonous, too, IIRC, painful to humans, but not fatal as I understood it.

Still...that pic reminded me of this Far Side cartoon:

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Nice capture Vic!

 

[GrauGeist]

Cool looking little feller...it's silouette looks kinda like a scorpion...

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Not so sure about those fury spines myself, I don't think they are poisonous but I'm not game to find out especially as I got a double whammy on the wrist from a wee black pin head sized ant a couple of weeks back that brought my arm up like a balloon which lasted for about a week.

 

[ontos]

Nice shot Vic, looks like a bad hair day.

 

[ontos]

Bees in a bush. I'm surprised they let me get this close

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Third one looks like a fly. Those are EXCELLENT shots to Merv!

 

[mikewint]

Nice pics, Got some very large bumblebees in the wood pile but not going to get close

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Merv!