Thursday, May 13, 2010

Hornets Nest



How many of us are "lucky" enough to say we've had one of these hanging from the eaves of our house? When we were selling our home in western NC, we had a friend who was mowing our grass and looking after the home while we were away. I remember he called one time to tell us of a huge hornet's nest that had been built under our front porch bench. I never got a chance to see that one. However, at our current home, I noticed this baseball size protrusion by my front door last week. This was within a day or two of seeing a 4-5 foot black snake on my front steps!!!! I had to wait for hubby to come home to take this down, so I enjoyed watching the hornets at work for about a week. Hubby took a water hose and sprayed it down... I would have never had the nerve to do that! If you click on the pic. you will see a close up of this miracle of nature. I just wish they hadn't chosen to build it on my house. :o(

13 comments:

  1. some had started a nest under our carport... it was about tennis ball size... your dad took care of it... too bad he didn't see the one built in the shoe on the back porch until after I was stung... I'm glad you were careful ... those things hurt!!

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  2. Ancient one is right be careful those stings hurt like crazy.
    Bren

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  3. Wow, that is interesting. Why is it that the men are never home when we see a snake!

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  4. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen one quite like that.
    It's creepy but at the same time a thing of beauty when you think of how these tiny little (mean) things build something like that.

    Karen

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  5. Oh It really is BIG.. I have never seen one that large.. Maybe after they abandon it you can keep it. I have a few bird nests collected.. they are quite beautiful when you look closely at the workmanship of Nature huh?

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  6. Yikes Penny! Glad you got that taken down before you got stung. Hornets really hurt when they sting!

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  7. Little PenPen, I posted pictures of your goodies in the mail yesterday! Thanks again!

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  8. We had one on the eave of our house years ago that we somehow missed seeing. I found out the hard way. My husband was working night shift and just before dark I was taking two bags of trash out to the garbage can (one in each hand). I didn't get far before I felt like someone had stabbed me in the back with a searing hot poker. I dropped the bags and when I turned around, it got me under the chin and I ran for the door. I will never forget those stings and am terrified of hornets. Also, I recently posted about my snake encounter. Hazards of living in the country, but I love it. :)

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  9. I have never seen one with that shape...

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  10. Yikes okay your hubby is brave..but in a pinch when hubby is home I have had to do the same. I love the nests but as you said why build them close to my home..
    thanks for stopping by my blog earlier and yes - do come to Cameron on October 2nd I'd love to meet you and you would have a fun time.
    tammy

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  11. Oh my, I have never seen one like that. Yikes, a hornet's nest and a huge black snake in one week! Eeeek! I don't know about that!
    Hugs, Cindy S

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  12. Hornet's nests are really neat. We had one I posted about in the maple tree by our deck once. It was really big. And once there was one in my blackberry patch, I didn't like that one being there at all. They really build them fast, I didn't notice it until it was quite big. It stayed there, but I was really careful from then on out when I picked the berries.

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  13. Can you say, "heebie geebies"? LOL
    I spent the night with a friend one night and we heard something outside of her window, which was the window her bed was pushed against. We pulled her curtains back and there was a hornets next that covered the entire window except for the bottom left corner. We both started screaming. Her mom and dad were floored at what they saw. Had to call people out to take care of it. It was amazing!

    ~Kristi

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