Critters

[EC]

All right.

First off, does anybody know how to get rid of wasps without killing them?  We have a wasp's nest on our deck ceiling.  It's kind of funny, actually.  We have patio lanterns, and this nest looks deceivingly like one of them.  There are all these lovely yellow and pink lanterns, and then this kind of weird, odd, misshapen black one.  I don't like to kill things, but one got in my room last week and stung me, so that can't really happen, either.  Anyone got any suggestions?

Secondly, what is everyone doing about cat hair this summer?  My cat is seriously shedding.  Like, insanely shedding.  I brush her and I even just sit there and pull out piles of it, but it's still a-comin'.  Aside from running duct tape up and down her, what do y'all do about it?

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

All right.

First off, does anybody know how to get rid of wasps without killing them?  We have a wasp's nest on our deck ceiling.  It's kind of funny, actually.  We have patio lanterns, and this nest looks deceivingly like one of them.  There are all these lovely yellow and pink lanterns, and then this kind of weird, odd, misshapen black one.  I don't like to kill things, but one got in my room last week and stung me, so that can't really happen, either.  Anyone got any suggestions?

Secondly, what is everyone doing about cat hair this summer?  My cat is seriously shedding.  Like, insanely shedding.  I brush her and I even just sit there and pull out piles of it, but it's still a-comin'.  Aside from running duct tape up and down her, what do y'all do about it?

hmmmm....on the wasps, wait until about 10 p.m. or later, and then go out and knock the nest over.  they are dormant at night, so 99.9% of them should be sleeping.  the .1% that might be awake you can run away from pretty easily.

i'm getting my longhair cat the shave.  there's tumbleweeds of fur everywhere!

[EC]

hmmmm....on the wasps, wait until about 10 p.m. or later, and then go out and knock the nest over.  they are dormant at night, so 99.9% of them should be sleeping.  the .1% that might be awake you can run away from pretty easily.

Um, pretty easily?  Sssscary.

Also, I can't really do that I guess, because there's a dog that lives downstairs and I would be afraid she'd get into it and get stung pretty bad.  Dang it.

I wonder if I could smoke 'em out.  Isn't there a Tragically Hip song?  "That's when the hornet stung me, and I had a serious dream..."  something like that?  "Tonight we smoke them oooouuutttt."  Yes that's it.  

i'm getting my longhair cat the shave.  there's tumbleweeds of fur everywhere!

You can shave a cat?!  Maybe that's what I should do.  I would have to tie her down.  They must look pretty weird all shaved, though...  Do you do it at a vet?

[Jellyfish]

If you don't want to kill them then leave them there,when winter gets here knock the nest down then...they won't sting you unless you bother the nest or create real loud noises beside the nest.They will not go more than 5 feet away from the nest if you were to disturb them.

A qick easy way is buy some of that wasp and hornet killer in a can that shoots about 20 feet in the air,that way you don't have to get close to them.

I hate cats but I like Kittens. ;D

[EC]

Thanks, guys.  I'll look into all this.

One thing is that it's so COOL looking.  Has anyone ever looked at one?  I know it's creepy and stuff, but it's like this black layered ball of weirdness just hanging there with all these twists and stuff.  If my bloody camera wasn't broken I'd take a picture and show you.  

WARNING!  CREEPY!  


Here's a stolen one:

[fitzcarraldo]

hmmmm....on the wasps, wait until about 10 p.m. or later, and then go out and knock the nest over.  they are dormant at night, so 99.9% of them should be sleeping.  the .1% that might be awake you can run away from pretty easily.

i'm getting my longhair cat the shave.  there's tumbleweeds of fur everywhere!

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha That had me rolling , go git em EC! ha ha ha.

Yeah my 2 cats shed like mofo's especially my boy Maceo, has to be brushed every 2 days...tumbleweeds ha ha  ;)

[jonjon]

are we talking hornets or wasp? that pic is a hornet's nest and you don't want to fuck around with it. Hornet's have a guard at the entrance and a back door. So even if you shoot the spray at the entrance, they will creep out the backdoor which is towards the top of the nest.

For wasp, the night time thing will work, but be very careful. Gloves and a thick jacket is not a bad idea. Also, if you put some gas in a sprayer and spray around the nest, the smell will drive them away.

I have heard of people putting a plastic bag over it and then knocking it down. Unsure how they got close enough though.

[Thom]

"You are not paying attention, paying attention..."

[SmoothOprtr]

Nice to hear you don't kill things... I don't kill the cock roaches in my school even though the kids usually do it for me.  

Having said that I have no idea how to help you lol... I usually draw the line on things that will injur me  ;) Good Luck!

[EC]

Thanks for the advice, peeps.  For now, we are trying to cohabitate amicably.

We'll see how that goes...

[jonjon]

 For now, we are trying to cohabitate amicably.

We'll see how that goes...

Best of luck. I agree with ya in that we are all creatures, therefore borthers and sisters. I'd certainly hate for a giant boot to descend from the sky and land on me. Aho Mitakuye Oyasin my sister!

[EC]

The deed is done.  Carnage everywhere.  A sad, limping, drippy paper orb with different layers hangs ruined.  Below it lie the bodies of about 20-30 wasps, some of whom are in various stages of developmental growth.

Poor wasps.

I mean hornets.

Or whatever they are. were.

[aMillionDreams]

REJOICE!!!
The tyrrants have fallen!!!
How did you do it?

(I wouldn't be too upset about killing a bunch of hornets, they are insects after all.  Sure they're living things, but so are potatoes before we kill them and eat them.)

[EC]

There is no rejoicing in the two girl three cat house this morning.  And they weren't really tyrants, either...  I only got stung because one got in my room because I left the back door open for the cats.  They actually never bothered us as much as the damn bees or the mosquitos (who don't bite me for some weird reason, but they really like Jen).

Anyhow, I know it seems kind of silly to feel weird about it.  But there's something odd about looking over this thing you've destroyed - and whatever, but they worked really hard on their home.  It was fairly intricate and took a long time.

But yeah.  We used this foam spray stuff that you spray into their front door, and it seals it up, and then they can't get out, so you stick the long spraytube into the foam and spray some more so that it fills up the whole thing.  

It actually was pretty huge.  It was the size of a birthday balloon.

[aMillionDreams]

Hey, don't feel so bad, maybe you think that they were peaceful insects or something like that, but you're just projecting.  If something as simple as an acorn falling out of a tree hit their nest and you or one of your cats were outside when they started to swarm, you would have really felt like a jackass for not killing them while you had a chance?  
And do you understand what I mean about potatoes?  I mean, if you brush your teeth (and I hope you do) you're killing colonies of living things that like make their homes in your teeth.  Do you feel guilty about killing them every morning, too?

[EC]

I don't really feel guilty about it - I know they had to go.  It's just a weird kind of a feeling.  

(But I appreciate you trying to make me feel better.  :))

And you're right about how bad we'd feel if one stung one of the animals - that's the main reason we did it.  Plus, like I said, we have neighbours all around, and some people are allergic to stings.