PPT mouthpieces

See, I do have friends. Not like what she says.Cow.

We have hornets, three times the size of those in the picture. They're much less aggressive than the smaller wasps. Unless you're close to the nest. They're also endangered/protected here.
 
Interesting

I had assumed hornets would be ill tempered... dunno why... maybe it's their reputation amongst beekeepers for raiding hives which, when you think about it, is a different thing to stinging persons
 
I think humans are guilty of actually ascribing certain "personality traits" .... such as "Ill tempered" to a species just so that they can feel more justified in killing them.
An animal species is what it is. But,
I suppose several hundred droning hornets flying towards your head might give someone the impression that they are ill tempered because they are reacting to an enormous, blundering alien that's just invaded their maternity hospital, shopping village, inner city housing, music hall... train station, airport, school.. food factory...

Interesting

I had assumed hornets would be ill tempered... dunno why... maybe it's their reputation amongst beekeepers for raiding hives which, when you think about it, is a different thing to stinging persons

Bee keepers will say anything.
 
I agree Alice, anthropomorphism blinds us to the realities of the animal kingdom, whether our reasons are fear-based and hostile, or well-meaning yet patronising.

It also feeds into a popular philosophy which encourages the destruction of anything that has the ability to cause one harm, but when we act out of fear we are capable of showing our ugly sides.

I think that where possible, its better to deal with the fear than the object of it - often a little more knowledge removes the fear.
As ever, other opinions are equally valid.
 
First time I saw one of the hornets, scared the living daylights out of me. I was in the throne room. I very carefully finished, got out and closed the door, then warned the family to stay out. Now I just warn them.

I didn't realise they were relatively docile until we took the kids on a guided nature trail, where the guide introduced us to them and a show nest. Made a big difference. Ours are quite a bit pinker than an ordinary wasp, as well as being sooooo much bigger.

Lots of good info here: European hornet - Wikipedia. Remember what I said about endangered/protected. Up to €50000 fine for killing one.
 
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Lots of good info here: European hornet - Wikipedia. Remember what I said about endangered/protected. Up to €50000 fine for killing one.

:w00t: I'd be ruined!

Are there any buyers for them in Germany? I could try and capture some... to bring them over. I can assure you they do not appear to be in any danger of extinction here.

We also have loads of rather big black ants. When I was a kid, growing up in the south of France where I am right now, we had both black and red ants and we organized ants battles. There was no wifi back then and none of the connected gizmos, so we found other toys in the garden! :cool:

Now, today's friend:

Argiope-small.jpg


It's an 'Argiope bruennichi' aka 'wasp spider'. Guess why!

It's been there, guarding the entrance since we arrived over a week ago. My wife's arachnophobic, but these spiders never come inside the house, so she doesn't care.

I wanted to take a picture of one of those busy cicadas we enjoy hearing all day. But they are very shy here, while where my mum lives you can watch them in the pine trees only about one meter from the balcony on the 5th floor.
 
We've got a hornets nest this year in the box for the roll blinds above the window in the guest room. Bit of a nuisance 'cos when we roll the blinds up and down they flip out and do the big aggro buzz buzz and bits of the paper like nest drop out've the slot where the band for the blind goes through the wall. Very messy.

They are in fact very useful as they live on wasps and ants and other creepy crawlies. I've noticed in the last few days they are beginning to die off and I'm sweeping up more and more dead hornet corpses off the terrace, so by the end of september they should be gone.

Apparently they don't like peppermint so I did try writing "Buzz Off" on a notice of eviction on a few peppermint leaves in 4pt. Helvetica Bold and slid it in the slot for the roll blind band, hasn't worked yet.

They are a bit intimidating but they're by no means as aggressive as the wasps unless they're aggravated.
We grill regularly and eat on the terrace in the summer months and since we've had the hornets as guests we haven't had as many pesky wasps as in previous years.

Live and let live - but don't even mention snails - anybody got a spare hedgehog?
 
They are in fact very useful as they live on wasps and ants and other creepy crawlies.

They also live on honey bees. Contributing to their alarming decline. :(
 
They also live on honey bees. Contributing to their alarming decline. :(
The hornets are absolutely nothing in comparison to the destruction caused by human beings which has caused this decline. If you want to read further about this, there are some websites which are devoted to the issue and explain it fully.
 
In 1962 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring which in spite of the fierce opposition of the chemical corporations led to DDT being banned.
Their response was to simply start producing chemicals even more deadly.
 
The hornets are absolutely nothing in comparison to the destruction caused by human beings which has caused this decline.
Yes indeed, when nature was left to its own devices all was well with the world.
And then there was MAN - Homo Sapien - and then one of Stanley Kubrik's neanderthal forefathers chucked a monolith into the works and since then it's been downhill all the way.
 
Yes indeed, when nature was left to its own devices all was well with the world.
And then there was MAN - Homo Sapien - and then one of Stanley Kubrik's neanderthal forefathers chucked a monolith into the works and since then it's been downhill all the way.
.... the Monolith was chucked in by "The Firstborn".... not a Neanderthal forefather....
Yes indeed, when nature was left to its own devices all was well with the world.
And then there was MAN - Homo Sapien - and then one of Stanley Kubrik's neanderthal forefathers chucked a monolith into the works and since then it's been downhill all the way.
like an enormous iPhone.
 
I must get out of the habit of staying up until 4.00 a.m. watching documentaries on BBC 4.
 
" ..... like an enormous iPhone.,"

I had a dreadful row with Siri.
We haven't spoken for days.
 
Disney has influenced everyone with kittens with big moist eyes and sad story: but where Bambi goes nothing grows.
 
I get these in my garden. Freaks my daughter out

I am surprised at the wildlife you have in Germany. But I would not fear a German spider nor a German hornet. I am sure that they all understand and respect order and would not behave in a rowdy or violent manner. My source for supposing the behaviour of German insects and arachnids to be exemplary is Three Men On The Bummel and I cite the truths contained in Three Men In A Boat as going to the veracity of that publication.

There there, I have 8 tablets a day to take and so far I have taken none. Best get on with it.
 
Talking about wildlife, we had an anted house!

We were quietly watching TV as a family when my wife looked on her side of the sofa to discover a real ants invasion. Those big black ones. I didn't take pictures as we were too busy trying to vacuum them and finding the source of the invasion.

Sorry to disappoint the great protector of all living things, but I used some naughty chemicals to stop them from coming back in.

Never a dull moment here. :cool:
 

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