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A Hornet in the house!

Joe P said:
How do people feel about dragonflies? I'm an unabashed fan of them.

I like their big eyes, iridescent colours and transparent wings.

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And their lightning-fast reflexes.

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They've been around for ~325 million years, though they've shrunk since those early days.

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And they could be doing better: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/jul/25/dragonfly-sanctuary

Joe
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That is an amazing photo JoeP - What lens, camera did you use to capture that?

I am a fan to, amazing creatures, not sure how I would feel about coming face to face with one at half a metre in size though. Funny how things have shrunk so much over time
 
Gingerbeard said:
Don't be fooled by badgers being road kill. The badgers are more than likely being killed by farmers and dumped at the side of roads to look like road kill. shocking as this may seem it is true and was investigated a few years back on a TV programme.
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Yes, David in the Archers got a lot of stick for doing just this a few years ago.
 
Ginger,

Sorry, that's not my picture. I did take this one, though.

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It was taken with Fuji Velvia or Provia slide film (I can't recall), using the old manual focus Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 AIS on a Nikon F3.

Joe
 
I drove to a wedding in Somerset last month and at one point, when we’re near our destination, I was on a dual carriageway littered at the side with dead foxes, badgers and at one point a deer.
 
Bob McC said:
I drove to a wedding in Somerset last month and at one point, when we’re near our destination, I was on a dual carriageway littered at the side with dead foxes, badgers and at one point a deer.
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Busy buggers, those faaaahgrmers.
 
Gingerbeard said:
Don't be fooled by badgers being road kill. The badgers are more than likely being killed by farmers and dumped at the side of roads to look like road kill. shocking as this may seem it is true and was investigated a few years back on a TV programme. Sadly, I can't recall the name of the programme but am sure there will loads of info on the web about it. If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense as have you ever seen a live badger near a main road at any time of day or night? I haven't, but have seen countless foxes, deer, rabits, hares etc.
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Badgers dead at the side of the road are road kill.

I ran one over myself a few years ago, it was bloody awful. I had to go back and adminster the 'coup de grace', it would have just died in agony. Big, solid creatures, very heavy. The first one I found years ago, and I brought it home and buried it, didn't want the location to attract n'er do wells with dogs, of which there are sadly plenty. I regularly see them running on the road at night, they just appear, and move rapidly.
 
Joe P said:
Ginger,

Sorry, that's not my picture. I did take this one, though.

250192282_542cc0bada.jpg


It was taken with Fuji Velvia or Provia slide film (I can't recall), using the old manual focus Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 AIS on a Nikon F3.

Joe
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Still a fine effort JoeP and lovely bokeh from that lens
 
eternumviti said:
Badgers dead at the side of the road are road kill.

I ran one over myself a few years ago, it was bloody awful. I had to go back and adminster the 'coup de grace', it would have just died in agony. Big, solid creatures, very heavy. The first one I found years ago, and I brought it home and buried it, didn't want the location to attract n'er do wells with dogs, of which there are sadly plenty. I regularly see them running on the road at night, they just appear, and move rapidly.
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I feel for you, I would hate to hit a badger as I know just how big they are. I have seen one or two out here in rural Derbyshire but this is on single track country lanes when driving home late from work and I drive slowly, not like the locals (i'm new to the area!) who seem to fly around the lanes as if nobody will ever be coming the other way! :eek:

Perhaps as there is so much more traffic on the roads there are is likely to be more kills, I dread to think how much on a year by year basis, but bet the figures are staggering. A percentage is definitely down to farmers (how much, I couldn't say).
 
The Hornet Saga continues.

At the weekend I learned that the nest of hornets which produced my three invaders is in an outbuilding, and one of them went into a neighbour's flat and stung a child with fairly traumatic consequences for a very frightened infant who ended up in hospital.

But two more came into my house as I got up at about 05:25 [BST] this morning. They, also, ended up inside my Henry Hoover like the first three.

Apparently the managing agent is going to get the pest control people in to remove the nest as clearly these creatures have stopped playing nice.

It is shame, but as the building here was built in 1836 I think we can claim prior rights in this case.

Best wishes from George
 
Careful out there George... This one is foreign but clearly dangerous!

btw how do you recognise a UK hornet from a wasp or bee? Really I don't know. Is it size, colouring or shape?
 
If you know the size of a Queen Wasp, then think perhaps a quarter to a half inch longer and you have the Hornet.

Hornets vary in how yellow [like a wasp] or orange they actually are according to whether they are the British variant of the common European specie, or more browny/orange the continental type is. Here in Herefordshire we still have the British type apparently.

Normally they are rather pacific and uninterested in humans, and rarely find themselves inside a domestic dwelling. However, by the number of incursions here at the moment, then something is wrong. Apparently the nest in the outhouse here is large in size, so perhaps the colony is attempting to split and form another base?

Unfortunately as being allergic to insect stings, I can afford to take no risks with an easily potentially fatal string from a hornet, bee or wasp.

Best wishes from George
 
Something about the size of my head flew into one of the vendor rooms at the North West Audio show this year (think it was the Fanthorpes room). I did notice one of the blokes doing the demo backed away across the room and left his colleague still talking about whatever he was on about. I wasn't paying much attention at that point and quickly moved on to the next room...
 
The hornet nest has been found. It is in the apex of the gable over my front room, some thirty or thirty five foot up.

The pest control company has just visited, so that should be an end to it. I have had seven of them inside so far.

Apparently there are huge numbers of them in the wild very close by and these never cause problems as they are not close to houses as such or interested in humans. The Bromyard Downs and Bringsty Common are unusual these days in that there is a lot of rather rare insect life still thriving here, plus some extremely rare wild orchids. Also we have wonderful wild hawks and so on. A wonderful sight to see them hunting. Hovering and then diving down on some too slow vole or whatever.

Best wishes from George
 
doctorf said:
We've just had a bat in our sitting room.
Loads around, but first time in 23 years of living here that one has ventured into the house.
A fishing net and one of TonyL's cardboard record mailers did the trick for removal!
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If you ever get a bat invasion again this video shows you how to deal with it:


Kevin
 
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