I have had two emails in regards to my press release about the wasps menace. They talked about wasps killing fledgling birds. One from a game bird breeder and one from a concerned tramper who watched a number of wasps (through his binos) attacking the eyes of a baby bird in a nest and killing it and then carting the flesh off. Has anyone else seen this or have any photos of it.... or something like....
Seen them on a crippled waxeye which they demolished. You know what they do to a carcass hung up in the bush. Seem to become demonised when they are eating meat.
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Alan
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Re: Wasps killing birds Reply #2 - Dec 23rd, 2015 at 6:56pm
Good news about Vespex becoming widely available now to individuals who complete their online test
MMM..Individuals that have to pay to do it and then buy the stuff...cant see the average joe blog that could kill thousands of wasps doing that thou unless its free
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Re: Wasps killing birds Reply #5 - Jan 11th, 2016 at 1:21pm
found/walked past half dozen nests yesterday in beech forest,wouldv'e been easy to drop a prepared bait into mouth of nest on way past...the hum of wings just on daylight was unreal and it was a relief to get higher up in bush past where they are thickest.
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Re: Wasps killing birds Reply #7 - Feb 9th, 2016 at 6:59pm
The wasp numbers in Lewis Pass were really few when I was there recently, I was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if the cold has knocked them back already?
Everything in Nature has a purpose. Wasps, bees and ants produce forms of formic acid, as does stinging nettle.( ever noticed that stinging nettle feels the same as a wasp or bee sting, well it's the same chemical). All life needs formic acid and all things that take have to give. So while it seems wasps do a lot of taking, they actually give back an essential element to all life. Why are wasps abundant in the back country? As far as I know the only source of formic acid in native flora and fauna is the nettle which may not be a very efficient way of dispensing it.( Romans grew stinging nettle to alleviate muscle pain after long marches, try it some time).. Honey bees cannot survive in the high country because the summer's are too short and nectar sources limited. They have to store a lot of honey to survive the winters.Wasps on the other hand die off over winter so don't have the food storage problem. In Autumn wasp nests produce queens that hibernate over the winter months and start a new nest in spring. Scientists in NZ are working on all sorts of nasty things to get rid of wasps, but they don't understand the role that wasps have. More poisons, more genetic engineering. Another aspect of wasps is that they have the potential to control wood boring insect outbreaks. These insects sometimes get to high numbers that cause tree mortality. With wasps needing protein for larvae( adult wasps are actually vegetarians), they could act as a limiting factor by harvesting the beetles at certain critical times. Rather than seeing wasps as a nuisance, I see them as guardians of the forest. Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.
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Re: Wasps killing birds Reply #14 - Oct 15th, 2016 at 7:56am
Everything in Nature has a purpose. Wasps, bees and ants produce forms of formic acid, as does stinging nettle.( ever noticed that stinging nettle feels the same as a wasp or bee sting, well it's the same chemical). All life needs formic acid and all things that take have to give. So while it seems wasps do a lot of taking, they actually give back an essential element to all life. Why are wasps abundant in the back country? As far as I know the only source of formic acid in native flora and fauna is the nettle which may not be a very efficient way of dispensing it.( Romans grew stinging nettle to alleviate muscle pain after long marches, try it some time).. Honey bees cannot survive in the high country because the summer's are too short and nectar sources limited. They have to store a lot of honey to survive the winters.Wasps on the other hand die off over winter so don't have the food storage problem. In Autumn wasp nests produce queens that hibernate over the winter months and start a new nest in spring. Scientists in NZ are working on all sorts of nasty things to get rid of wasps, but they don't understand the role that wasps have. More poisons, more genetic engineering. Another aspect of wasps is that they have the potential to control wood boring insect outbreaks. These insects sometimes get to high numbers that cause tree mortality. With wasps needing protein for larvae( adult wasps are actually vegetarians), they could act as a limiting factor by harvesting the beetles at certain critical times. Rather than seeing wasps as a nuisance, I see them as guardians of the forest. Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.
Those bastards that chased me into the river trying to devour the meat that I was trying to salvage off a dead Red were the weirdest phucking vegetarians I have ever seen.