This summer we've been quite busy and so I really haven't blogged about the little stuff, (actually my fav. blogs are just about the stupid little things that happen). So anyways I haven't yet shared with everybody the fact that for the past few months we here at the housley house have launched a full scale attack on our enemies!!!
a.k.a The Wasps from Hell!!! Let me start from the beginning...
We've always had a bit of an issue with these pesky creatures, ever since we've moved in and every year it has gotten progressively worse. It seems like they love our back deck. They are always buzzing around out there and I was convinced I knew the 3 areas their nests were: under my flower boxes, in the house rafters, and in the BBQ legs. These were the places I always saw them coming and going from. So I put up my little catchers, bought some spray and started some smaller preliminary battles.
Reagan got stung by a wasp in July and of course she made the BIGGEST deal about it - crying and carrying on! She's 8 and cries about everything. So I rolled my eyes and comforted her and we put a penny on it, (a tip from my Aunt) and of course that made Reagan's bite to her hand feel soooo much better! Yeah Right!,... as I rolled my eyes...This was my attitude until a couple of weeks ago when one of the little bastards took a chunk out of my thumb!!! (Sorry but that's their official name around here!!) Holy Crap! That hurt soooo bad! I screamed really loud and ran into the house. Reagan was inside and heard me yelling... seriously I was in pain! She ran to me and told me to put a penny on it...instant RELIEF! No kidding the pain melted away! It's a great trick to remember!
Anyways from that point on I've made it my mission to exterminate these pests. I recruited Todd. Wait,.. back up to like 2 weeks before I got bit. We had my family out for Sunday dinner. I had Todd, My Dad, and Brandon get the table out from under our de
ck and...there, they came across the real problem. We had a nest hanging under our deck like the size of a basketball and it was a 'BUZZ' of activity to say the least. The 'Men' were all babies about getting the table out or so I told them until I saw the thing for myself...I wasn't going anywhere near it!! It was the MOTHER LOAD!! If we could take it out, the rest of the wasps would follow. We had our Target and then we strategized...
With the information highway so readily available we found out more than either of us wanted or needed to know about Wasps!!! Too much information really. Words like 'aggressive' , 'swarming', 'dangerous' and 'death' appeared to be synonymous with the extermination attempts of Wasps! So we made our plan basic...We would dress up as much as possible. (Todd looked like he was getting on the space shuttle!) Todd would take the lead position and attack at the bottom of the nest spraying the foaming poison directly into the nest's 'hole' I would be at 'back-up' above ground on the deck, attacking the little devils that tried to 'escape out the back door'! There were screams...there were profanities...there were accidents, (Sorry honey, ... I really wasn't aiming the poison at you...Good thing you were wearing goggles!)...and there was death and carnage, (fortunately our family survived!). After about 20 mins of this we thought it was over...and then the big guns came out of the nest! I've never seen Wasps like these. They were the size of a small mouse...no lie! The poison worked on them, but only if we got in a direct hit. I think we got the majority of them but I'm afraid that there were plenty of desperados who lived to see another day. So this war is not over and we continue to battle.
I have to say I'm impressed with Todd. He's gone into full on 'William Wallace mode' - "Every man dies but only a few really live" What the point of having a backyard if you can't 'really live' in it...and so we fight...
*The next day - an update : Todd got up this morning and went to check on what's left of the nest. He made the mistake of poking it with a stick and disturbed a few of the remaining insurgents. They swarmed him and bit him on his newly shaved head! That's it!!! GAME ON! ...I have to go help Todd find his fatigues and camo paint his face...
4 of you like what you're seeing!:
those annoying wasps are the worst part about summer in montana. they drive me nuts. and i can only imagine how bad their bites hurt. i had one fly off with a chunk of chicken off my dinner plate as big as it was. i was so suprised. they eat chicken??? i'm glad you got the nest. i'm all for extinction.
I want pictures of Todd in his gear when he gets ready to fight. That should be a great photo.Buy a wasp catcher. They are yellow and they look like a hive.They fly in and can't get out. We had a huge problem last year and that was our only defense left. We wished we had gotten it sooner. They sell them at CAL ranch. Good Luck!! Go get those little S.O.B.'s
No way, they were that huge? freakish!!!!
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