I am considering committing mass genocide. The intended victims have not threatened me, except by their existence in the sphere of my daily life. Do I have the right to kill them?
They moved into my neigborhood about a couple of weeks ago and quickly settled in. They built their own house lovingly, carefully, bit by bit. I watched from a distance, detached at first, then with interest and even delight at their cleverness and determination. At first, there were only two of them. Now, there are about 15. I know the numbers will increase until my ability to exterminate them will be too risky. I have to act now or take the chance of painful attack in the future.
They are wasps. Or hornets. Or something else that comes in that scary stinging-flying-thing configuration. They have chosen my window as their breeding grounds. They have done no wrong. They act as they are driven to build, and breed, and feed, and protect. What right do I have to destroy all their hard work and waspy dreams?
Don’t let millions of years of evolution go to waste. Use the advantages gathered over many thousands of generations to your advantage and blight out the sun for the invading wasps all the while shouting "Evolve or Die!’
Get a friend to stand below while you grab the nest and tell them to slam the lid onto the trash can. Be sure to slip off the ladder, taking the nest with you and have your friend flee in terror and crash into the grill.
Well, at least that’s how someone tried to do it in a commercial.
Ok, I’ll break the trend and speak for your stinging little friends: before you exterminate, check and see what kind of flying insect they are. We had a nest of bald faced hornets in a tree the summer before last, and they were very well behaved and fun to observe. Your critters may not be so innocuous, but maybe they are.
All I am saying is give peace a chance.
Wasps need to die if they decide to move in on your property. There’s a whole world filled with places for their nests, your home is off limits.
Wasp spray works like a charm. Spray, run. Go back in an hour and knock nests down with broom handle.
The ones at my old apartment attacked me every time I’d go in or out of my place. I knew there are 10000 gazillions wasps out there, killing 100 isn’t so bad.
Thankfully, there are none at my new apartment! YAY!
Whatever you do, be careful. WASPs are not affected by plaids or turtlenecks. The best thing to do may be to put up a large multi-ethnic display of some kind in your yard, like a Jewish Kwaanza tribute to Buddha or something. I bet the WASPs run and never look back.
The thing about wasps is, they will get into your house no matter what you do to try and prevent it (the same is true for WASPs, but that’s another matter). I have pets who chase and try to catch bugs, so I feel obligated to kill stinging insects. I got some foaming wasp spray from Agway and applied liberally. The best times of day are dawn and dusk, apparently.
Good luck, and remember-- terminate with extreme prejudice.
If they’re anywhere near people and/or animals, you’ve got to get rid of them. Since they’re in your window, well, I think you know what you have to do. I hate the idea, but they can’t really be relocated and somebody could get hurt. Do you have a county extension office with folks who are familiar with wasp removal? Some cities have people who’ll come out for free, under certain circumstances.
No matter what, don’t set the nest on fire. Yes, I know someone who did that. Burned his shed down, singed himself, and got himself stung, besides looking like a danged fool in front of the entire town.
A couple of years back, a wasp or yellowjacket got into my screened gazebo while I was reading in there. I decided that it wasn’t doing any harm, live and let live, peace on, y’all. A while later, it landed on my hand, I instinctively flailed, the wasp flew off, I sat down, and the bastard stung me on the hand. My hand swelled up and was painful for days. The “live and let live” policy has since been replaced with the James Bond “Live and let die” policy and a can of hornet spray stays in the gazebo at all times.
Criminy, a coupla wasps move into the neighborhood and you’re all about mass murder and killin’ and stuff.
What would you have done if they were Lutherans ???
What?
Okay. Sorry. Seriously, please make sure you are spraying with all windows closed, kids not nearby, pets not nearby, etc. Bug sprays are deeply poisonous to human-types. Good luck getting rid of em. A few times a summer I need to spray up into the shutters next to the front door, cause the yellowjackets love living in there.
You think you got issues? I walked up the front steps, pulled out my housekey, glanced to the left to the top of a large shrub that’s about at waist level this morning and found a large snake. Sitting on top of the shrub. Swear to ya. It was what, 18 inches long? Just an innocent garden snake. Nothing to worry about.
