Here's one way I'm well ahead of the curve on fashion and design. I've been bringing wasp nests and other natural curiosities into my apartments and home all of my adult life. The New York Times reports that items like the above now retail for "up to $250 per specimen." Several photos at the link.
I've had a paper wasp nest (not nearly as large) on a natural history shelf in my bookcase for maybe 10 years. I find it interesting that other people are finally coming around to my tastes.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I acquired my vindictively due to the Little Devils attacking me while I was mowing the lawn.
I acquired my aversion to them after my boot stepped into a hole in the woods while I was clearing brush. They swarmed me and chased me a quarter mile back to my car. Scared the dickens out of me because I didn't know if I might be allergic.
DeleteI recently heard a podcast about pheromones which mentioned that bee or wasp stingers emit the "attack" pheromone after they detach from the insect and remain in your skin, allowing the others to locate and chase you.
DeleteI hear you. Where I live, it's the California yellowjacket. Nests underground, mostly in gopher holes. I learned, in years of land surveying, that the sight of two or three was a red flag--what always preceded the swarm of ten or twenty. Figure out the location of that nest! Then try like hell to work as far away as possible.
Delete:-) I am sure there are stories of people cutting down wasp nests after a freeze, and bringing the nest in to the warm house, only to have the wasps awaken. :-)
ReplyDeleteNot for me !
ReplyDeleteThe ambiance produced by the humming of the insects may well be a good background noise ('yellow' noise ?) ... and for sure the entertainment value would be out of the ball park, watching the cats trying to catch them, Mr. Boots catching one, him getting stung, him swelling to the size of a mountain lion, the trip (in a hurry) to the vet's rooms, the stress of maxing out the credit card.
I am a foreigner, a legal alien (but not in your country) and what we normally do is kill the little points of pain and misery BEFORE we mount their now empty homes on our walls.
But you do you.
I have a nest under my deck for anyone who cares to come collect it. :-)
ReplyDelete