View Full Version : M4arc 8 - Cicada Killers 0
I've got these bastards in my front yard and while they aren't dangerous they are making a mess of things. They've got at least eight good sized mounds of dirt pilied up and at least one of their tunnels goes all the way under my driveway!
I really don't like to mess with them since they're harmless but today I finally had to take action and started spraying them as they returned to their nests.
So far I've gotten three (possibly five) and these suckers are big, at least two inches each.
I have them lined up in my driveway like they're on display :D
Has anyone else dealth with them? Am I pissing up a rope trying to get rid of them myself and should I call a professional?
SeriousStudent
07-10-10, 14:39
When I was a lad, we'd sit in the yard and pick off the vile intruders with our BB guns.
Are there no young ones you can encourage to do some basic marksmanship practice? ;)
Drowning and a stick also seemed to work. Flood the hole as they were growing, and poke a welding rod down there.
That was the typical 8-year-old solution then.
Thomas M-4
07-10-10, 14:43
+1 On flooding the hole stick a hose pipe in there [ and geter Done ]:D
I'm going to try flooding it tonight but there are at least eight holes that I can see plus I know there are some more that don't have a massive dirt pile around them.
I'm going to use this adapter that the kids use for filling up water balloons, jam that down one of the holes and let it rip! :D
QuietShootr
07-10-10, 14:57
I've got these bastards in my front yard and while they aren't dangerous they are making a mess of things. They've got at least eight good sized mounds of dirt pilied up and at least one of their tunnels goes all the way under my driveway!
I really don't like to mess with them since they're harmless but today I finally had to take action and started spraying them as they returned to their nests.
So far I've gotten three (possibly five) and these suckers are big, at least two inches each.
I have them lined up in my driveway like they're on display :D
Has anyone else dealth with them? Am I pissing up a rope trying to get rid of them myself and should I call a professional?
I hate those goddamn things. I had them in my backyard for a couple of years. You have to put something down in the lawn, because they are burrowers. Get Sevin or something equivalent and put it in a spreader.
ETA: a tennis racquet makes for great good fun killing them when they dive-bomb you.
FromMyColdDeadHand
07-10-10, 18:53
Messing with Ciccadas is like trying to hold back the tide, at least if you are talking about the multi year cycle kind. Had a Lab dog that would chase them down if you picked them up and tossed them.
QuietShootr
07-10-10, 19:17
Messing with Ciccadas is like trying to hold back the tide, at least if you are talking about the multi year cycle kind. Had a Lab dog that would chase them down if you picked them up and tossed them.
We're talking about these, dude:
http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/more_killers_hand_35.jpg
Messing with Ciccadas is like trying to hold back the tide, at least if you are talking about the multi year cycle kind. Had a Lab dog that would chase them down if you picked them up and tossed them.
Not the Cicadas, a type of Wasp that kills Cicadas. They are big and dig holes and tunnels in the yard. I hate to kill them but they are tearing up my yard and with all the kids running around here (only two are mine) we're worried that someone is going to get the piss stung out of them.
post up some pics of these vermin...i know i am in norther mexico for all arguement sakes, but wasps in the lawn??
WTF
post up some pics of these vermin...i know i am in norther mexico for all arguement sakes, but wasps in the lawn??
WTF
See QuietShootr's post above.
FromMyColdDeadHand
07-10-10, 21:08
Not the Cicadas, a type of Wasp that kills Cicadas. They are big and dig holes and tunnels in the yard. I hate to kill them but they are tearing up my yard and with all the kids running around here (only two are mine) we're worried that someone is going to get the piss stung out of them.
That's a pretty good vote for Darwin.
They eat cicadas? I've never seen them, though I've never lived south of the Ohio river.
I doubt the ones in my yard are going to tilt the war between the two bugs, I'd whack away, especially if they are the stinging type.
QuietShootr
07-10-10, 21:46
That's a pretty good vote for Darwin.
They eat cicadas? I've never seen them, though I've never lived south of the Ohio river.
I doubt the ones in my yard are going to tilt the war between the two bugs, I'd whack away, especially if they are the stinging type.
http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/images/cicada_killer_wasp-rule.jpeg
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/diaglab/03images/729cicada-sting.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5231/killitwithfire.jpg
thopkins22
07-10-10, 23:22
Thanks M4arc...I'm now agoraphobic. That is the most vile bug I've ever seen. I'm with Riverine, napalm might be for you.
I miss the islands :) we had huge centipedes !!! I had a few about 12 - 13 inches long
but that was about it !!!! black scorpions like a bee sting but very rare and cane spiders are about the freakiest things nothing poisonous ? no snakes or anything
still not sure where we want to live on the mainland we ask people and I hear more and more about the south and everyone says OH move to the carolinas its so pretty
wife and I looked at Florida and wondered what the bunny cages around the pools are for ???? OH the bugs !!!
then I read stories like this and THINK YIKES no way and this kinda thread makes me never want to move farther east EVER !!!
my brother was stationed at No Hope Pope as he called it out east North Carolina I think ?
I remember visiting him and freaking out at night driving cause I thought the bugs were going to break the windshield !!!
then in the day when you can HEAR and FEEL a bugs wings taking off and watch it like a bird !!!!!!!!! thats to frigin huge for my tastes
variablebinary
07-11-10, 03:27
http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/them.jpg
The score is now 4-0 in my favor :D
This morning I raked all but one their mounds over and flooded the last one with water for about 20 minutes.
Then I nailed one with spray and missed another one. There's at least one large adult left and who knows how many down below.
I estimate their series of tunnels is at least 40 feet long and 20 feet wide.
SeriousStudent
07-11-10, 13:58
........
There's at least one large adult left and who knows how many down below.
I estimate their series of tunnels is at least 40 feet long and 20 feet wide.
Freaking Cong.......
:D
damn,
I dont think Ive ever seen anything like that !
although I think Id whip out the Benjamin if I did :D
what state is this in ?
God I hope it’s not Texas.
The score is now 4-0 in my favor :D
This morning I raked all but one their mounds over and flooded the last one with water for about 20 minutes.
I think I figured out your problem. You are using the wrong fluid for your destruction.
Let Gasoline and Zippo become your best friends...release your inner redneck...
kaiservontexas
07-12-10, 08:20
God I hope it’s not Texas.
Oh they live here too . . . I watched one get eaten once by that wasp. It's tail just grows as it eats the locust. I was 9 years old at Grandpa's out by Converse near SATX.
Littlelebowski
07-12-10, 08:42
God I hope it’s not Texas.
If there's something that stings or bites, you can be sure it's in Texas.
jklaughrey
07-12-10, 09:17
Need some det. cord, that will teach them. Go Bill Murray style in Caddyshack on them.
My mom called me over, because she had these things in her yard.
We didn't know what they were, but I waited until dusk, and poured gasoline down the holes. Came back 2 days later, and did it again. Smoothed out the dirt piles, and problem seems to have been resolved.
mnagant762
07-14-10, 04:56
Those things attack the cicadas and lay eggs inside them then the babies eat the cicadas from the inside out. At least thats what that tight leather pants and spiked wristband wearing Billy guy on TV said.
ForTehNguyen
07-14-10, 07:19
yea they lay eggs inside a cicada's head and the cicada is baby wasp food
Those bastards are nasty and generally won't bother you....unless provoked or they think their nest is being compromised. First time I saw the buggers was at Goose Creek Golf Course years ago. Had a decent approach shot to the green along side the creek (which was unusual enough itself...) then when I walked up to see where my ball was.......right in the middle of downtown dirt mounds-ville, those bastards were everywhere.
I just added a couple more shots to the count and left the freakin' ball there.
What part of the country has these 2 inch wasps so I can avoid?
Those things attack the cicadas and lay eggs inside them then the babies eat the cicadas from the inside out. At least thats what that tight leather pants and spiked wristband wearing Billy guy on TV said.
Billy is right. I hate to kill them but they are tearing my yard up and it's right in front where we walk, the kids play, etc. Plus they have up to 10 babies per year and I've killed 5 adults so far...does that mean there are 30-50 babies under there? Damnit!
What part of the country has these 2 inch wasps so I can avoid?
I'm in Virginia.
QuietShootr
07-14-10, 18:28
Billy is right. I hate to kill them but they are tearing my yard up and it's right in front where we walk, the kids play, etc. Plus they have up to 10 babies per year and I've killed 5 adults so far...does that mean there are 30-50 babies under there? Damnit!
I'm in Virginia.
We have them in Indiana too.
Never seen any in MI, but I'm a gas down the hole guy myself, works for various insects and rodents.
When I see shit like this it makes me miss PA a little less.
QuickStrike
07-16-10, 16:33
Anybody ever tried going after them with an aluminum bat?
I'd imagine the "piing" to be pretty amusing.. :cool:
Got another today and I've seen #7 so I'm waiting for him (or her) to return so I can take care of that bastard as well. Bonus: got a regular wasp today as well so my record is now 6-4-0.
I had to buy another can of wasp spray (which is now sort of like buying ammo) so I'm stocked up and ready to take down #7 when he shows himself.
Littlelebowski
07-23-10, 10:20
Hope you've been working on your stance and nozzle control, M4arc.
Hope you've been working on your stance and nozzle control, M4arc.
The stock sights are tough to pick up and track so I've been spraying from the hip a lot. I'm sure there is some Brady types that will use this to push their pro-wasp agenda but I don't care. :D
Update: I just nailed #7!!! Let's hope this is the last of them this year. I'm sure however many are underground will surface next year but I'll be ready for them.
You DO know that you can't claim Ace status until the gun camera footage is analyzed, right?
You DO know that you can't claim Ace status until the gun camera footage is analyzed, right?
Not a great picture but it should give you some idea. Here's # 6, 7, & 8! I just saw #9 so I'm going back out...cover me!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee64/oclvtrek/IMAGE_066.jpg
What is the standard loadout for a mission like this?
Do you think you'll have an even greater success rate if you do night ops?
Nathan_Bell
07-24-10, 09:34
Not a great picture but it should give you some idea. Here's # 6, 7, & 8! I just saw #9 so I'm going back out...cover me!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee64/oclvtrek/IMAGE_066.jpg
That's four stepped on and photoed now. One more and you make un-disputed Ace, and nearly an unofficial double Ace. :p
What is the standard loadout for a mission like this?
Pretty simple: one can of TotalKill Hornet & Wasp spray, no shirt, one six pack of PBR and a cheap lawn chair. :D
Do you think you'll have an even greater success rate if you do night ops?
Negative. They go underground at night and with tunnels covering an area of 40x20 (at least) it would be impossible to get to them. Besides it much more fun during the day when they're active!
Nathan_Bell
07-24-10, 09:48
Pretty simple: one can of TotalKill Hornet & Wasp spray, no shirt, one six pack of PBR and a cheap lawn chair. :D
Negative. They go underground at night and with tunnels covering an area of 40x20 (at least) it would be impossible to get to them. Besides it much more fun during the day when they're active!
"Charlie's got tunnels all over!"
"Charlie's got tunnels all over!"
LOL!!!
After reading that I'm going to break out my Dad's tiger stripe fatigues and wear them!
What part of the country has these 2 inch wasps so I can avoid?
I saw them on occasion in New England as well growing up. Never actually seen any in Virginia, but I'm sure they're here, too. They don't seem nearly as common as black widows and copperheads around here.
As for aiming the wasp spray - call Mark Larue and see if he can make you a LT mount for a standard diameter spray can so you can mount a T1. Or perhaps an ACOG with a SDC (spray drop compensator).
I saw them on occasion in New England as well growing up. Never actually seen any in Virginia, but I'm sure they're here, too. They don't seem nearly as common as black widows and copperheads around here.
As for aiming the wasp spray - call Mark Larue and see if he can make you a LT mount for a standard diameter spray can so you can mount a T1. Or perhaps an ACOG with a SDC (spray drop compensator).
dbrowne, what part of VA are you located in? I've seen copperheads here in VB but only a few black widows. (knock on wood)
As for the LaRue mount...you might be onto something!
When I lived in Argentina we had a problem with big insects, 2-3 inches long that would burrow under the lawn and leave mounds of dirt all over the place, I have no idea what they were.
The way we dealt with them was by buying some of the cheap, dollar store type dish washing detergent. shooting some of it at the burrow hole, then hitting it with the garden hose. The soap suds suffocate the insects without harming the lawn.
dbrowne, what part of VA are you located in? I've seen copperheads here in VB but only a few black widows. (knock on wood)
As for the LaRue mount...you might be onto something!
Richmond area. There are a ton of copperheads down in southside from what my co-workers tell me, and we had a real problem with black widows in my neighborhood in Glen Allen. I had an exterminator going door to door last year trying to sell service contracts - he told me he'd found black widows in two of my neighbors' houses. I just assumed he was FOS and this was a scare tactic. Boy was I wrong - I found one that same day in my garage and called the guy back to have him come treat the house.
Pretty simple: one can of TotalKill Hornet & Wasp spray, no shirt, one six pack of PBR and a cheap lawn chair. :D
PBR? You cant be serious.
PBR? You cant be serious.
Yes and no. I'm not actually drinking beer while standing in the front yard, without a shirt, killing wasps. But I do drink PBR on occasion. It's actually a post bike race (get it, PBR?) tradition amongst me and my mountain bike friends to have a PBR after racing. Then we move on to more expensive beer.
Yes and no. I'm not actually drinking beer while standing in the front yard, without a shirt, killing wasps. But I do drink PBR on occasion. It's actually a post bike race (get it, PBR?) tradition amongst me and my mountain bike friends to have a PBR after racing. Then we move on to more expensive beer.
I feel better now, I was afraid we were gonna have to fundraise.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.