Yesterday was a dangerous day for me.

[Cybermat47]

OK, yesterday was a really tough day for me.

First, I'm going to the toilets at school. Two idiots are in there smoking, and then a wasp lands on my shirt. I don't know if I'm allergic to wasps or not, and I don't want to find out. After my attempts to shake it off fail, I walk very gently back to the classroom, trying not to anger the wasp. Once I'm inside the teacher very nicely kills it.

Phew

And then this happens

[Oberon]

Well, on the up side if your teacher hadn't have got the wasp the fires probably would have.

Good to see that White Van Men exist in Australia too.

*launches spy-sat*

Ah, so you're a Sydney area guy, not far from Tarjak and GenoMariner. From what I could see on Genos photos on facebook earlier today, the Nattai park was a tad toasty. Got to feel sorry for the poor animals in the path of these. Humans can usually get away, animals, particularly the smaller critters, not so good news for them. To be fair to the Aussie fire service though, and their animal service, they are bloody good at post-fire rescue, I remember a video of a firefighter rescuing a koala that made the rounds after a wildfire a few years back, touching stuff.

You hang in there Aussies, you're a hardy bunch, if anyone can roll with the punches it's an Aussie.

[Red October1984]

If the two guys are idiots, that's an absolute perfect time for a surprise Wasp-Hug.

THIS MAY NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!

[Stealhead]

See you kill one wasp and the others get really up set about it.

I bet that the brush fire had the insects scurrying.

Anyway you really do not want to get stung by a wasp because unlike bees wasps can keep stinging and they also bend into a "U" shape so they can garb what ever they are stinging and also bite with the mandibles.Which I am sure makes the intake of the venom more likely and it also hurts.

I have been stung by a wasp a few times in my day they hurt even if you are not allergic.

[fireftr18]

WOW!! Are you the one filming?
I know a little something about fires. That was bad.
All kidding aside, you were way too close, I'm glad you got away okay. What's in the video is called here in the US, a firestorm. It's a forest fire that has gotten large enough to create it's own weather pattern. Look at the trees and you can see the wind blowing toward the fire. To say they move fast is a gross understatement.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by fireftr18

WOW!! Are you the one filming?
I know a little something about fires. That was bad.
All kidding aside, you were way too close, I'm glad you got away okay. What's in the video is called here in the US, a firestorm. It's a forest fire that has gotten large enough to create it's own weather pattern. Look at the trees and you can see the wind blowing toward the fire. To say they move fast is a gross understatement.

Yeah, I'm the one filming.

I've heard about firestorms. Pretty nasty stuff. Fortunately I don't think anyone was killed, but quite a few homes have been lost. I'm pretty sure this fire was one of several in NSW.

It's ironic, because the school was used as an airfield for water-bombing helicopters during another lot of fires last term, and firemen do some training at the school.

[Stealhead]

Firestorms can generate very strong winds.I know during WWII some cities in Germany and Japan that got fire bombed sometimes caused massive fire storms and the winds would pull even large trees right from the ground and suck them in.A person in the area well you can guess what happens if a tree gets up rooted.

I am sure some of the large forest and brush fires can generate fire storms that have the same effect.You really do not want to anywhere near a large wild fire.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

See you kill one wasp and the others get really up set about it.

There's a hole in the edge of the eaves over the garage where I swear, up to 200 wasps live at a time. Sometimes during the summer, you can catch about 50 of them at a time sitting out on the eave.

Can of Raid usually does the trick. But they just....keep...coming....BACK!

I posted two pictures back in July of when I got stung...when my one ear was like 3 times bigger than the other.

Anyway you really do not want to get stung by a wasp because unlike bees wasps can keep stinging and they also bend into a "U" shape so they can garb what ever they are stinging and also bite with the mandibles.Which I am sure makes the intake of the venom more likely and it also hurts.

Which makes them perfect for practical jokes...or if you just really don't like somebody.

I wouldn't let it loose in somebody's car...but there are other things you can do with a wasp to scare somebody.

I have been stung by a wasp a few times in my day they hurt even if you are not allergic.

+1

And they sting when you least expect it...and for me, at first you don't know what the hell has got you...but then it immediately starts hurting like you (in my case) lost an ear.

Not allergic to them...but I hate them. Managed to escape getting stung most of my life...only been stung a couple times...which is surprising considering how many of them are around. I don't attract wasps...I attract mosquitoes.

I think Wasps and Mosquitoes are the two of the most useless animals on earth.

[TarJak]

So you go to school in Springwood then? Hope you and your classmates were all safe.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I found out the other day that either wasps or bees have an alkali sting and the other has acid.

Therefore if you get stung by a wasp ensure you get stung by a bee too to remain pH neutral.

[Geno_Mariner]

Ah... went to the paddock, then turned around after putting my horse into a feed yard to see smoke. Couple mins later, went to the mall then came back out 30 mins later to see even more smoke. Thank goodness the fire was on the other side of the mountain (but right across from my paddock ). It went out at around 8pm or so.

Got a friend out west Syd (I think) who told me he might have to evac again on the weekend after evac'ing the other day.

Good to know you guys in the other areas are safe!

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

There's a hole in the edge of the eaves over the garage where I swear, up to 200 wasps live at a time. Sometimes during the summer, you can catch about 50 of them at a time sitting out on the eave.

Can of Raid usually does the trick. But they just....keep...coming....BACK!

I posted two pictures back in July of when I got stung...when my one ear was like 3 times bigger than the other.



Which makes them perfect for practical jokes...or if you just really don't like somebody.

I wouldn't let it loose in somebody's car...but there are other things you can do with a wasp to scare somebody.



+1

And they sting when you least expect it...and for me, at first you don't know what the hell has got you...but then it immediately starts hurting like you (in my case) lost an ear.

Not allergic to them...but I hate them. Managed to escape getting stung most of my life...only been stung a couple times...which is surprising considering how many of them are around. I don't attract wasps...I attract mosquitoes.

I think Wasps and Mosquitoes are the two of the most useless animals on earth.

Kind of a risky prank though if the person is allergic.Better hope an EpiPen is near by.Some people are so allergic even ant bites will cause a reaction those types they could die from one wasp sting.Cool thing about the EpiPen is that medical device is around thanks to military technology it is an auto injector and those where fist used (and still are) my the military only in the to inject nerve agent antidotes well at least enough to keep you from dying right away the good old Mark I NAAK and the ATNAA.Now they have EpiPens for allergies and to also for insulin.

The best thing is the special spray for wasps and bees it allows you to stand 20 or 30 feet away and spray and it is nearly instant in killing them.

Wasps kill caterpillars and locusts and spiders so to me they do have a good use you just do not want to mess with them.Actually they paralyze the prey and then they take it to their nest and the larva slowly eat it. Every once in a while I happen across a wasp vs. spider fight pretty brutal one is going to win and one going die and it can go either way.I watched a Wolf Spider loose to a huge female wasp this summer I thought for sure the Wolf spider got her but she lost and the wasp managed to kit in one fatal hit then it just grabbed the paralyzed body and flew away.

The one you want to avoid is the Velvet Ant really it is a flightless wasp the females(in Hymenoptera order females are always bigger and badder) are flightless and have no wings so they got the name Velvet Ant because they look like a really large ant with red velvet covering it.Well they have a very painful sting the strongest in North America.

Mosquitoes I guess they are around to spread disease to control populations of other animals also lots of other animals eat mosquitoes or their larva so they do serve some purpose.


I wonder sometimes what is the purpose of humans to be honest we seem to be the most harmful species.It is a good thing other animals lack the cognitive ability to see us as the threat that we are.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Kind of a risky prank though if the person is allergic.Better hope an EpiPen is near by.Some people are so allergic even ant bites will cause a reaction those types they could die from one wasp sting.Cool thing about the EpiPen is that medical device is around thanks to military technology it is an auto injector and those where fist used (and still are) my the military only in the to inject nerve agent antidotes well at least enough to keep you from dying right away the good old Mark I NAAK and the ATNAA.Now they have EpiPens for allergies and to also for insulin.

That's why I wouldn't do it...but the idea has crossed my mind.

I have one but I don't actually need it. There was a period of time where they thought I might need it...but I didn't...so I still have them.

The best thing is the special spray for wasps and bees it allows you to stand 20 or 30 feet away and spray and it is nearly instant in killing them.

When the whole lot of them sits out on the eave...it's pretty fun.

Wasps kill caterpillars and locusts and spiders so to me they do have a good use you just do not want to mess with them.Actually they paralyze the prey and then they take it to their nest and the larva slowly eat it. Every once in a while I happen across a wasp vs. spider fight pretty brutal one is going to win and one going die and it can go either way.I watched a Wolf Spider loose to a huge female wasp this summer I thought for sure the Wolf spider got her but she lost and the wasp managed to kit in one fatal hit then it just grabbed the paralyzed body and flew away.

Mosquitoes I guess they are around to spread disease to control populations of other animals also lots of other animals eat mosquitoes or their larva so they do serve some purpose.

I've heard that...but it doesn't mean i have to like wasps and mosquitos...

I had sooo many bug bites this summer from mosquitos. I hate them.

And we have so many spiders around here I don't think the wasps are doing much.

I wonder sometimes what is the purpose of humans to be honest we seem to be the most harmful species.It is a good thing other animals lack the cognitive ability to see us as the threat that we are.

Sad but true. +1

[Stealhead]

I never said that you had to love wasps and mosquitoes but your original statement was that they where useless I only said they did have some purpose.

Nature has a purpose for everything.It is kind of neat at least to me to think of the war that is fought everyday for survival for most living things on earth living to the end of the day is no certainty.

Here is a Velvet Ant they might be a different color in other parts of the US and Canada but this one has the colorization they have in Florida.

Never heard of the cow killer name before but they cant really kill a cow.

[Red October1984]

[QUOTE=Stealhead;2129893]I never said that you had to love wasps and mosquitoes but your original statement was that they where useless I only said they did have some purpose.[QUOTE]

Fair enough.