One of our neighbours recently had starlings in her roof, a couple of others have had house martins, and me - I get wasps! We had bees a couple of years ago but they only stayed a week. No trouble at all. This year we have wasps. They're living under the fascia and we hardly know they're there. They seem to respect boundaries and very few come in the house even though we have the bedroom windows open. (Or maybe that's because we don't have sticky drinks etc lying around?) The odd one that has come in has been in a very exhausted state. It's sad to see the demise of such distinguished creatures.
It's far more pleasant living with these wasps than those dreadfully invasive flies we all had a few weeks ago.
I should be able to get a poem out of this. But so far it's eluded me.
Photo copied from: www.pestcontrolcanada.com/.../bees_and_wasps.htm
9 comments:
Al least wasps don't make much racket. I have possums and they sound like elephants in hobnailed boots on the tin roof when they get home at 4.00 a.m. every morning.
We had mice to contend with a few months ago - they came in when our drains collapsed. At least they didn't have a sting in the tail even if they had a sweet tooth for our breakfast cereal. Wasps are a whole different proposition. I think an enlargement of their eye would make an interesting photo and possibly the start of a poem. it would certainly need to be a micro-camera!
Possums - sounds exciting to me. But as you say, a bit wearisome if they wake you up EVERY night!
The thought of mice (or anything else for that matter)scrambling through my food really would upset me. I simply don't share my kitchen - hence my recent war on any fly that dared.... Not that I killed them but I certainly did my best to redirect them.
Forgot to say that's a good idea Rhys. I find that honing in on one particular aspect of a creature, or as you suggest a body part, provides a way into a poem.
I'll think about the eye or maybe that amazing slender waist - it amazes me how it holds the creature together. Sometimes it looks like the abdomen is just hanging on by a thread.
As it happens, I am just honing a poem on wasps (well, a wasp nest). I am not keen on wasps, it has to be said. You can read the poem in due course ...
There's an interesting image of an enlargement of a wasp's eye at the foot of the attached link. Adds a whole new dimension to the phrase 'showing the evil eye'. As you say, amazing how it all holds together! http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/~vbroje/oil_spill_research_laboratory.htm
That's fascinating Rhys. I'd never have guessed what is was. I wonder if that explains how they're so good at creating hexagonal cells...
Carol,
interesting Thought for the Day today on Radio 4 -talks about a mystery virus that is killing off colonies of bees and the implications that might have - here's the link to the transcript
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/documents/t20081001.shtml
Rhys
What kind of bug and ant control do you use when you are traveling? I always get overrun with bugs when I take camp.
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