#$%^&* WASPS!!!!

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

I dont know what it is, but there are wasps EVERYWHERE down state in SOUTHERN South Jersey and down in Delaware ... both of my little boats are apparently Wasp Havens, as well as my Tow Beast, and I looked at an 18 horse Evinrude that is a virtual twin for my ten horse Sportwin, lol, theres that twin motor thing again, lol, and I pulled the hatch off and ba boom, a big old and thankfully defunct wasp nest in there, all mud daubers, now, I have a few questions, do mud daubers have aggresive tendecies? My initial impression is no, they were swarming pretty good, as in EVERYWHERE, but didnt sting me ...<br /><br />alwhough a few of em made a few buzz the tower passes at my head<br /><br />Neat thing ... there is a boat on the farm where Hydrophobia currently rests that is a virtual twin to the OLD Hydrophobia ... looking at it, I laughed and said, jeeze, was I nuckin futz or what? out in the ocean in THAT? I swear, the new Hydro, despite being only 4 feet longer, is exponentially larger, it looks almost as massive as the 23 foot Chris Craft on the site ... which, believe me, has me in a I wanna buy it FRENZY, god shes a classic, down east raised bow,gorgeous, red and white, my fav combo ... and spent most of its life under cover, so shes not rotted, new motor, oh MAN what a boat, <br />but, first get mine in the water - the new Hydro is a classically beautiful clean lined boat her own self, but ... Hydro for the lakes and bays, and Chrissy for the big water ... uh oh, ive already named the boat, not good ... <br /><br />Ive got some pics, Ill post them in a bit <br /><br />But in the mean time, can I wrap the boats and vans in a huge tarp and throw some bug bombs in there? I hate these damnn wasps and I used to be allergic to them ... anaphalactic shock and all that .. <br /><br />and I really dont want to find out now!

 

[wayne h]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

IF they are mud daubers they will not sting you. here in florida they are a pain also.its hard to tell a wasp from a hornet from a mud dauber when they are dive bombing your head.i tend to throw everything and run around like a girl hahaha. anyway yaa you can tent your stuff and spray it down.i have also put everything in my garage and bombed it in there.killed all the garage spiders too lol.the best time to tent it and bomb it is at night they will all be in the nest and not really active.

 

[JB]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Howdy, Ray.<br /><br />Mud daubers are a fact of life here in Texas. We put bits of masking tape over every 1/4 to 3/8" hole, or they make a nest in it. Fortunately, they are not aggressive.<br /><br />We have about 5 varieties of paper wasps. They are aggressive lil' buggers and can fly stinger-first, so you are hit before you know they are there. Except for being so territorial, they do lettle or no harm.<br /><br />Hornets, on the other hand, are a real menace when they fall into the "yellow jacket" family. They like to build nests in cavities. Many boats are a collection of cavities. They are as aggressive as paper wasps, but much more numerous, and can be life threatening in their usual large numbers. Beware yellow jackets!<br /><br />There are many other species of wasps and hornets that are more or less solitary and usually non-aggressive.<br /><br />One exception is the wingless wasp. Looks like a giant, hairy, bright red ant. It is solitary, but does not tolerate being harassed and has a sting as powerful as a small scorpion.<br /><br />Scorpions. Another fact of Texas life. Leaving them alone is a matter of vigilance. Leaving them alone is always good judgement.<br /><br />Snakes? People always ask me about snakes when they visit The Hideout. I have maybe a half dozen coppereheads that live in rockpiles and woodpiles. Live and let live. Don't bug them, they don't bug you. I've been here 10 years, now, and haven't seen a rattler. Believe me, I look.<br /><br />I do have a lot of king and gopher snakes. Good guys. Glad to have them.<br /><br />Wasps? Well, I guess everything, as Einstein said, is relative. Every environment has its nuisances and its benefits.

 

[wind knot]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

The wasp's are heavy here too this year, maybe the mild winter?. Anyway here's my tip, they really don't like penetrating oil. Wait till early morning or later at night when it cools off.<br />Spray them and their nest!. Kills em' dead and the others that return won't try and rebuild it.<br /><br />Give it a try!

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Mental note to self: avoid texas at all costs, lol<br /><br />its one thing to run like a girl, quite another to shriek like one, lol, a poised and rattling rattler would tend to elicit that sort of reaction<br /><br />I tell ya tho, its like a horror movie .. its a two hundred year old farmstead, all the old buildings there are alive with wasps, big bomber sized things, and the old timers there just walk around oblivious<br /><br />THIS in particular has me hating wasps, look at how pretty this particular hornet haven is .... <br /><br /> Lady in Red <br /><br /> I couldnt clamber on up inside tho, as soon as I started peeking over the gunnels, I was getting dive bombed - and the owner said, yeah, needs some wiring, brand new engine in her tho, lol, hey, kill those damnned wasps and Ill rewire that sucker for ya! (for occaisional driving privelages, lol) place even has a DOCK with access to the Delaware River right near the Salem nuke plant, so its about an hours easy cruise down to Fortesque, where they are nailing tiderunner sized weakies ... arghhhh, 1.5 miles from the ramp<br /><br />anyway, thanks for the replies, worst comes to worst, Ill tent and bomb em, but they might get pisssy about the tarping process, I wonder if they sell apiary outfits in size extra Jumbo?<br /><br />LOL

 

[JasonJ]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Tarp it and bomb it, they'll die....

 

[wayne h]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

i live in florida and Scorpions are here also the think is they like to hide in towels or bedding and you dont know it untill its too late i have been hit by 1 of them and its not fun.so now i check my bed and shoes before i put them on.also i spray around the house,boat,cars,and garage with the pump sprayer 1ns a month it has cut down on all the little critters i have seen around here. my neighbor was haveing a problem a few months ago i guess i ran them all over to his house haha he sprays also and has had no problems. he has babys (kids) so he does his place every 2 months. he seen a scorpion in the babys crib.thats enough to scare any1.when you live in hot weather you get alot of weird crutters. i am from ny and when i moved to florida i could not belive all the bugs.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

I remember as a 12 year old vacationing in florida I was walking down by the st john river ... and was walking around, exploring, and walked between some trees, scrubby things, and walked into a rather sizeable web ... <br /><br />I looked down, and there was a brown and yellow spider the size of a dinner plate on my chest <br /><br />Kid brother was nearby, dont shriek, dont shriek, DONT SHRIEK ... jesus chrisst!!! I swatted it down and stomped on it, and it was like stomping a jellyfish .. seriously BIG spider, OMG ... <br /><br />fortunately, there was no brown and yellow on my shorts either!<br /><br />later that trip, I was out swimming down in Juno Beach and saw a portugese man o war, quite a ways away, and said, wow! ive never seen those before, and a little alarm bell went off in my head, something about how they have very VERY long tentatcles ... <br /><br />and just about then, I felt something like wet yarn wrap around my legs, and instant horrible stinging, Ive been stung by jersey jellies before, this was way beyond that ....<br /><br />I started back in, scooped the kid up so he wouldnt get stung, and hes like whats wrong, why you running, lol, I told him a shark was out there<br /><br />Old timer on the beach saw me bring the kid in, took a look at my leg, and said, geezer gotcha, git some adolphs meat tenderizer on that leg ... HUGE welt wrapping around, a little fish wouldnt have a chance, lol, basstard jellyfish, I spent most of the rest of the time stabbing beached man o war with a long stick, die you @*($%&@(*$@#( 'ers!!!!<br /><br />Mom of course didnt like the palmetto bugs, hehehe, especially when I would go catch one and hold it up near her face<br /><br />ah well, the Bugshine State<br /><br />but Jersey has em beat for WASPS!!!<br /><br />(damnned if that adolphs didnt work, I keep it in the tackle box for those times when you accidently get jelly on the anchor rope and dont find out about it til yer stinging)

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Hey Ray, where are you at in South Jersey I read somewhere there was a big rattlesnake nests somewhere around the Brownsmill area state stopped the developer in his tracks. Up here in Warren County the wasps are just as bad! Except we are getting yellow jackets and ground hornets. Nasty Buggers. I've been hooking up to the trailer once a week and shooting up route 57 hoping to blow the buggers out. So far lucky.

 

[fishhunter911]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Bad here in Newark, DE too, just got the new boat lastweek, parked it for 2 days went back and the buggers built a nest in the coupler, didnt know it till I hooked her up ,, WHOA!!! did they swarm, I can resemble the "running like a lil girl" I am alergic as well and went running like a 7 yr old who was being attacked by the school yard kisser

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Im in the philly area, so is the SeaCraft ... naturally, that monster isnt bothered as far as I know ... but down in Salem where they are REALLY swarming is where the starcraft and (not mine) Cris Craft are ...<br /><br />(feel free to take a look at em, I think they are all classics, but the cris craft ESPECIALLY so!)<br /><br />the Crestliner is over in new castle, keeping Tow Beast II company ... more wasps, grrr I hate em, but figgered a way around the stinging ... set up a pulley to haul a tarp over the boat - towing the tarp with a sealed car (gotta love punched up AC)<br /><br />then its just slip a few bug bombs and LET THE KILLING BEGIN

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Ray Nice Boats. My pop had a 14' chris craft just like that. Brings back some fond childhood memories.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

yanno jgregory, my dad had a 14 foot cris craft made of plywood .. tiny boat, quite cute, but TINY .. he had an elgin motor on it, a 14 horse if I remember correctly<br /><br />I remember thinking it (the elgin) was some sort of monster down in the basement (I was two or three at the time) the gold lettering would look like frankenstein eyes in the gloomy darkness of the basement<br /><br />Interesting, the things you think of ...

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Pop's had a old mercury the one with the silver casing on it. Don't remember horsepower. It was the first boat he ever bought and was real proud of it. <br /><br />He purchased it right after his involuntary enlistment expired in the mid 60's. We would really have some fun Down in Barneget bay. Clamming, fishing, and crabbing. Those were the days. <br /><br />I don't know how my parents did it. We would pack sandwiches the night before do the 1.5 hour drive down to Bara's Marina at Forked River. Spend all day on the water drive home and turn around do it again the next day.<br /><br />I hope to treat my daughter to some of those same memories.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

do you remember the lookout tower at barnegat? it was a three story deal with a (sort of) circular stairway that went up along the walls with lookouts the whole way up ... as a three foot tall kid it was BIG, and you could look out over the bay .. I really enjoyed going there, didnt realize at the time it was cause dad had had a heart attack and couldnt do the drive to our "little house" in Villas, just figured they were tired of it and didnt want to bother with it anymore ... ah the innocence of kids!<br /><br />Even I was innocent once!<br /><br />OW !!!! damnn lighting bolts!!!<br /><br />

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Burning the Midnight oil Ray. I don't remember the tower maight be a little before my time born in 1968.<br /><br />Did it look like trhe towers going down the Delaware coast?

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

not the cast iron things, this was more like a fire watch tower like they have in the pine barrens, (curiously made of WOOD, hey lets add to the conflagration, lol)<br /><br />LOL, a 68 kid, a year of particular vexation for me ... most of my girlfriends kicked off the interesting part of their lives in that year, lol, those freewheeling years of no worries, no condurundoms, and wild wild wild ... err, well, yanno .. <br /><br />Did yer parents have to give up going to Woodstock cause of you? lol

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

No parents missed woodstock because of Uncle Sam. Dad was out from Bragg but had to finish last month in the local reserve unit.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

bummer .. ah well, at least he got to go vicariously thru friends, lol

 

[Fishbusters]

Re: #$%^&* WASPS!!!!

Mud Daubers will sting if provoked. All wasps and such will however their temperament is more laid back. They lean toward the I got to build my nest and lay my eggs rather than than defend the nest or whatever at all costs against the possible intruder. You can actually crush the little tubes this solitary wasps build while they are away with no fear. Like was said they will build in any tube they can crawl in including gun barrels. Usually solitary nesting wasps are calmer and harder to get rid of than colony wasps such as paper nest wasps. I would recommend hanging a wasp trap or two because these target those with the bad tempers usually leaving the calm spider hunting mud daubers alone.