Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Can’t speak for you, but I’m convinced these fuckers are intelligent.
Every year, somewhere close to the Vernal Equinox it starts. They come out and start pushing the envelope. In wasp-language, they submit the proposition, signed sealed & delivered, that our balcony actually belongs to them.
We courteously submit a rebuttal, in wasp-language.
And so beginning on the Paschal Full Moon or thereabouts, I begin my sentry duties outside. Laptop, beer bottle, Wasp & Hornet Spray. Try not to go mixing ’em up.
And then laptop, empty beer bottle, full beer bottle, spray. Laptop, two empty beer bottles, beer bottle, spray. Now we’re at laptop, empty beer bottle, empty beer bottle, empty beer bottle, empty beer bottle, beer bottle, spray. Try not to mix ’em up.
Now here is the spooky part: Following Mother’s Day, or even Easter, there isn’t any spraying going on. It isn’t necessary. Wasps, I’m convinced — and I don’t give a shit what the entomologists have to say about this, okay? — understand the human-like concept of a “property line.” I am stalwart in this belief because I see it happen. They bob & weave the way they do, lazily to & fro…they sort of wander right up to where our negotiations concluded, and they wander right back again. I could measure it down to the fraction of the inch. And you know what? It works this way well past Labor Day, until there are Halloween decorations in the drugstores. At which time they disappear. Lay their eggs, and then salmon-like, go off and die?
It does seem to me that the negotiations need to be resumed the following year. Not possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of insect hibernation/reproduction rituals, I assume I am addressing a new generation. But even if that be the case, it seems to me there are genetic artifacts of what was negotiated the season previous. It’s as if momma wasp and daddy wasp told ’em, “don’t fuck with that guy with the can up there, he’s an asshole” and they listened somewhat.
The theories presented here, I have an opportunity to subject to a vigorous test. A tree is engulfing our balcony. It is deciduous, its pitch flows outward to the farthest leaves on the farthest branches. The wasps love it. But once those lines are negotiated in the springtime, they remain in full force throughout the entire year, and razor sharp.
No further negotiation necessary. Wasps is smart.
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Interesting. I assume you’re referring to “paper wasps,” so named because they build hanging paper nests.
I’m not quite following the bit about respecting property lines, however, because it seems like they keep returning again and again after being driven off the following year. I have a few observations of my own on these insects:
– A wasp spray can I once bought, actually said to only kill the wasps if their nest is too close to windows and doors; otherwise, they should be left alone because they’re beneficial. (It went on to say to attack the nest at night, when all the insects have returned to it and can be wiped out in one fell swoop.) The can didn’t specify how; I have, however, seen them crawling on flowers like bees do, so perhaps they aid in pollination. This confused me a bit since wasps don’t make honey.
– How in the hell did wasps surivive in North America, before people colonized the continent and built permanent wooden structures? I rarely see wasps build nests in trees and only periodically in shrubbery; they much seem to prefer objects or buildings (or old vehicles) which were put there by people. It seems these provide better shelter. Are there more wasps in the US now than there were 500 years ago for this reason? Inquiring minds want to know.
– If you knock down a paper nest during the day, the wasps who were on the nest will return and proceed to build another one in the exact same spot.
– There’s a kind of bush which grows well in the Sacramento Valley, one with rough & thick branches which produce tiny needles. I don’t know the name of it but it’s a popular shrub in residential areas. Because of its dense cover, wasps seem to love building nests in it.
- cylarz | 05/05/2011 @ 20:47You should work out a way to capture those lil beasties and sell ’em to Andy, as I’m reasonably sure he needs lotsa raw material for his wasp-grenades. Or mebbe he has a local source. No matter… I think it’s worth lookin’ in to.
- bpenni | 05/06/2011 @ 12:14