…and then this morning I was cutting wood, right? And things were going okay but I wasn’t running at quite 100% and was kind of looking for an excuse to knock off and go ahead and stack what I already had in the trailer.
And then this guy came by, and Would Not Go Away.
I’m pretty sure it’s a male – the females are really big and have bright red wings. And fortunately they’re not especially hostile or aggressive but they can be persistent, and what they want they take because they have like the worst sting in the entire insect kingdom. And they’re so well armored you can drop a big book on them and only piss them off – and it’s just really important not to piss them off.
So I finally went away and let him have the saw if he wanted it. I was kind of tired of it for the morning anyway.
Isn’t that what BB guns are for, Joel? To my detriment, I probably would have gone after him and earned a sting for my efforts. Last I checked, BBs are pretty worthless against armored beasts, and even Gamo’s “Armor Piercing” pellets have a hard time making it through a tin can lid.
Anyway, it sounds like his appearance was a welcome excuse for a break. Good luck on meeting your woodcutting goal.
My bet is that the saw blade rotating at speed would have been sufficient to exterminate him!!!
No frikken way. I have read descriptions of the sting and 5 minutes at screaming in agony at the top of your lungs while simultaneously writhing uncontrollably on the ground doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Joel, you have posted pictures of these beasts before. Are they common? Could there be a nest somewhere (shudder)?
They are very common around here. I don’t think they nest in bunches like regular wasps, it’s just that this is the place they live, so they can be close to the tarantulas they enjoy gruesomely murdering.
My wife and I were driving to the Grand Canyon with the windows open on the truck, and a gigantic Thing bounced off her mirror and landed in her lap between her legs. It looked stunned but definitely not out. I managed to get the truck stopped and her outside and the bug squashed.
This was 25 years ago, and I never knew what that bug was. Until Now.
Thank you for solving one of the last mysteries of my relative youth…and thank the gods it didn’t wake up enough to sting her over her femoral artery. She’s allergic to bee stings, and it probably would have killed her.
Good choice . https://youtu.be/MnExgQ81fhU