# Am I a Monster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 5, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191 "2005-07-05T20:58:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/21 "2005-07-06T00:36:27Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > 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. No freakin’ way. Kill 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/22 "2005-07-06T00:53:52Z")
> [@Ashes](#): > > 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. **Ashes[sup]2[/sup]** I don’t doubt this for a second, being the southern small town thing and all, but dang if this wouldn’t have been great in last week’s MMP! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/23 "2005-07-06T01:20:30Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > **Ashes[sup]2[/sup]** I don’t doubt this for a second, being the southern small town thing and all, but dang if this wouldn’t have been great in last week’s MMP! 😃 Y’know what makes it perfect? The guy’s actual given name is Bucky! **Cartooniverse** , why would a snake need to carry around a knitted blanket? It’s summer! ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/24 "2005-07-06T02:05:30Z")
I once sprayed a very small wasp nest that the little bastards had started building not three feet from my front door. I still remember laughing maniacally as I did it – nice try, you little bastards! – while being ready to jump into my apartment and slam the door if any of them came after me. Wasps scare the crap outta me. I will shriek and run away if I see one. No way was I letting them move in next to MY place. Death to wasps, I say! ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/25 "2005-07-06T02:06:02Z")
_whimper_ Wasps. Ugh. We used to have serious waspage problems. Once, when the NinjaDog was just a wee li’l pup, not quite a year old, she’d gone snuffling around where there was a wasp nest nearby, and ended up with a snout the size of a cantaloupe. Kill the pesks, now. Be swift and merciless. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/26 "2005-07-06T03:40:42Z")
In the window, right? Do you have a screen? Is the nest outside the screen? If the nest is outside the screen and the window is away from any human or pet activity, leave them alone and enjoy watching them through the summer, then knock down the nest they have abandoned next winter. (You can even cut it open with a butcher knife to see how it looks on the inside.) If there is no screen or they are building where they will interfere with the passage of humans or pets, wait until after dark, preferably on a cool evening, then spray wasp spray (that is expelled in a thin jet for a distance of 10 or more feet) into the nest until they have all stopped moving. I am not in favor of killing the little critters, but I will do so if it is _necessary_ to protect mammalian critters. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/27 "2005-07-06T08:56:02Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > 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. > > With an afghan hound in it’s mouth. :eek: 😛 That left a mental image which will be with me all day. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/28 "2005-07-06T10:10:43Z")
I just killed a bunch that were building a nest in a bell on my deck. I got them before they could get me. Survival of the fittest, my friend…survival of the fittest. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/29 "2005-07-06T11:01:46Z")
I’ve been a beekeeper for over 25 years. Wasps serve no usful purpose and they will sting the piss out of you, too. Get a pump spray bottle filled with dish washing soap and spray them. It’s cheap. It’s easy. (I like cheap and easy 😃 ) It’s safe, the soapy water knocks em off the nest and you can walk away. :rolleyes: It’s not hard on the environment. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/30 "2005-07-06T11:04:05Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > That left a mental image which will be with me all day. –Beaming-- One is pleased to be of service ! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/31 "2005-07-06T13:33:24Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > Wasps serve no usful purpose … I guess that says it all. You’ve got to be useful to people and not be an inconvenience. Otherwise you get slaughtered. Bring back DDT. Pelicans are not useful to us and they eat fish that we could otherwise catch. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/32 "2005-07-06T14:31:18Z")
Glass Parking Lot! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/33 "2005-07-06T14:34:56Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I guess that says it all. You’ve got to be useful to people and not be an inconvenience. Otherwise you get slaughtered. > > Bring back DDT. Pelicans are not useful to us and they eat fish that we could otherwise catch. :dubious: Pelicans don’t sting me randomly. They don’t set up shop in my mailbox, right next to my door. In short, they are not pests to me! And…there’s a lot more wasps than pelicans. I mean, have you read the stats on how many bugs there are out there? They’re going to outlive us all. Your analogy holds no water. ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/34 "2005-07-06T14:42:30Z")
_Those Damn Buggers. If only Ender was here to save us all._ Or in the words of the horrible Starship Troopers movie. _Everyone’s doing their part to fight the buggers, want to know how you can help? Do you want to know more?_ ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/35 "2005-07-06T15:30:09Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > :dubious: Pelicans don’t sting me randomly. They don’t set up shop in my mailbox, right next to my door. In short, they are not pests to me! And…there’s a lot more wasps than pelicans. I mean, have you read the stats on how many bugs there are out there? They’re going to outlive us all. > > Your analogy holds no water. Well, Anaamika, along the same lines, wasps don’t bother me so why do I care if they bother you? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/36 "2005-07-06T15:52:24Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Well, Anaamika, along the same lines, wasps don’t bother me so why do I care if they bother you? When did I say you needed to care if they bothered me or not? I was just pointing out the flaw in your analogy. There are legitimate reasons why wasps are considered pests and pelicans are not. If you had limited your analogy to, say, bumblebees, I could see your point. I don’t think bees are a pest, I think they’re rather cute and fuzzy. But they do sting. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/37 "2005-07-06T16:23:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > When did I say you needed to care if they bothered me or not? > > I was just pointing out the flaw in your analogy. There are legitimate reasons why wasps are considered pests and pelicans are not. If you had limited your analogy to, say, bumblebees, I could see your point. I don’t think bees are a pest, I think they’re rather cute and fuzzy. But they do sting. Well, your original post wan’t on the mark either. I’m reasonably sure there is nothing at all random about a wasp’s stinging. And I don’t think that you, or I or hlanelee know whether or not wasps are “useful” by whatever standards hlanelee was using. Probably those of a beekeeper. And I defend my analogy. The post I was replying to stated that “wasps are of not use and they sting.” Well pelicans are of no use and they take fish that I might otherwise catch. The fact that you aren’t bothered by pelicans and are by wasps is irrelevant. I don’t want to get to serious about this because I regard the hulabaloo about wasps as overreaction. But the post I was replying to implied that anything in which we can’t find of benefit it us and which pester us should be wiped out. I’m not comfortable with that attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/38 "2005-07-06T16:26:01Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > (snip) I’m not comfortable with that attitude. I am. So we agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/39 "2005-07-06T21:06:15Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Bring back DDT. Pelicans are not useful to us and they eat fish that we could otherwise catch. Soapy water is hardly the same as DDT. It is an environmentally friendly spot treatment to eliminate a potentially dangerous pest from a residence. It does no harm to anything other than the intended target. DDT does dangerous collateral damage as does Sevin and Malithion and Diazinon, and etc. Beekeeping is difficult enough with natural predators. Two years ago, I dragged the guy spraying for mosquitos out of his truck and threatened him with bodily harm if he came within a mile and a half of my house again. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191/40 "2005-07-06T21:19:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve been a beekeeper for over 25 years. Wasps serve no usful purpose and they will sting the piss out of you, too. ??? Have you fixed the mite problem, then? Because in a large section of North America, wasps are providing the pollination (at a reduced rate, of course) that we used to rely on bees to provide. And I have never been stung by a wasp that I was not (inadvertantly) attacking. I have destroyed a few nests where I was concerned that they would attack some person who would freak out, but I have never been stung by any of the wasps or hornets that have entered my house when I captured and released them. I get a wasp nest in the window above my window-mounted air conditioner every year. Since they build in the portion of the window that is blocked off from my bedroom, I just leave them alone until October, then knock down the nest when I pull the a/c out to store it for the winter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-a-monster/311191.md?page=3)