Got Stung By A Yellow Jacket

[Debp]

3 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Japan and the Philippines.  

Thanks for answering.   I spent a week in Japan...Tokyo, Kyoto and Nikko.   Lovely country.   I never ran into any Murder Hornets thankfully!

[Debp]

2 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Her land was a refuge for bull snakes... these snakes prey upon other snakes, rattlers in particular. Bull snakes were all over the place, eventually taking up residence in the gardens and the greenhouse. She was leery of them at first... I suppose most people would freak out to find a seven-foot bull snake lounging in the vicinity of yon watermelon patch. What a boon they were, eating varmints of the rodent persuasion thereby earning our gratitude. They were pretty laid-back and unobtrusive, moving along if they happened to be in our way. The bull snakes were welcome neighbors all things considered. 

Interesting.   Yes, better to have Bull snakes than Rattlers!

[Marathoner]

6 minutes ago, Debp said:

Thanks for answering.   I spent a week in Japan...Tokyo, Kyoto and Nikko.   Lovely country.   I never ran into any Murder Hornets thankfully!

I spotted one resting on a frond of a banana tree in the yard of my parents' house on base. Largest wasp I had ever seen. Cicada killers are big but the giant Asian hornet (another name for the murder hornet) eclipse them in size.  I saw them again in the Philippines. 

[DeighAnn]

3 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Tell me about it, sister. Allow me to regale you with the saga of the Hummingbird Wars which unfolded during the years I spent with my dear friend (she has since passed on from this world). It started innocently enough.

She decided to position feeders at various locations to attract hummingbirds to the vicinity of the gardens and greenhouse. The more pollinators the better, yes? As things go we were terribly busy with the hard work of cultivating crops and so the feeders would be drained dry. Slap dry, as folks from certain regions of the country might say. One morning as I emerged out of the porch I was accosted by a hummingbird...

The diminutive fellow zoomed up, hovering less than a foot away from my face. My friend told me hummingbirds were shadowing her as she moved about in the house, hovering in front of windows which offered them a view of her. Yeah, this was a "hint" that we needed to refill the feeders.  Time passed by...

I was repairing a section of fence when the sound of warring hummingbirds reached my senses. Looking to the nearest feeder I witnessed the most absurd spectacle: a hummingbird was "standing their ground," defending a feeder from other hummingbirds. The tiny bird expended their energy chasing their rivals away, never stopping to drink from the feeder themselves. Intrigued, I noticed the same feathered warfare unfolding in the vicinity of the other feeders. They never bothered to visit the wildflowers and cacti blooms surrounding the gardens... they ignored these in favor of the feeders!

Mmhmm. We therefore engineered a cease-fire bringing the conflict to an end: we pulled the feeders and put them away.  Let them work to eat!  

That just is no longer an option.  We have the same birds year after year and they have babies all over the place.  My mother made it like a birdyland.  Flowers and waterfalls (hose in shower or flat mode ) and feeders everywhere.  

Before the main group arrives I have gnats so thick you can't stand to walk around outside.  A month into it and for the rest of summer I almost forget gnats exist.  Gnats LOVE me.  I HATE them.  I will make a gallon or so of food a day just for that one reason.  But my birds are very friendly.  I go to hang up their feeders and they are already on there eating.  

As for the "fighting" I decided I would look at it as play because one second they are running each other off and the next you have 10 of them eating together. 

And when they come within inches of me I can feel the wind from their wings.  It's all worth it.  

 

[Debp]

12 hours ago, DeighAnn said:

a birdyland.  Flowers and waterfalls (hose in shower or flat mode ) and feeders everywhere. 

Would be nice to see a photo!   I love water features!