Wasp Nest in the Ground?

[DukeCanBuildit]

So, I saw that something dug a hole in my lawn at the cottage and wondered what annoying critter would have dug a burrow there and how I might get rid of it. It wasn’t there yesterday. I could see honeycomb material all around the hole and a few wasps hanging around. I was puzzled - did something try to take a wasp nest into its burrow? When I looked closer, I could see there was a wasp nest in the ground. What the what?

After some Googling, I found out that certain wasps nest underground and that raccoons, skunks, and black bears like to dig up the nests to feast on the larvae. Maybe that’s why I captured this guy on my security camera last night.

Anyone here have this issue before?

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[Roscoe_t]

Oh yeah. I find yellowjacket nests in the ground fairly often -- usually while I'm mowing the lawn. Running over the nest opening tends to annoy them.
A guy I know lost his schipperke when the dog disturbed a yellowjacket nest. The owner got stung a few times himself while trying to save the dog.

If you want to eradicate a next like this, an insecticide dust like Sevin is the way to go. The insects track the poison into the nest, far deeper than any aerosol bug bomb can go.

 

[Roscoe_t]

I'd say the skunk did you a favor.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I'd say the skunk did you a favor.

It sounds like it. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of these underground nests, so thanks for the tip on the insecticide.

 

[MarioCart]

I got 22 stings from a ground nest cutting the grass before.
My neighborhood skunks, raccoons, and bears don't dig them up.
Wish they would because you don't know where the buggers are coming from when you get swarmed and stung. running in circles didn't help.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I got 22 stings from a ground nest cutting the grass before.
My neighborhood skunks, raccoons, and bears don't dig them up.
Wish they would because you don't know where the buggers are coming from when you get swarmed and stung. running in circles didn't help.

Yikes - I guess I could make a beeline for the lake - no pun intended. Okay, yes it was.

 

[Tom_C]

Yeah, Yellow Jackets are one type, but there are other ground wasps. They are quick to anger I think they are from the hood.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Yeah, Yellow Jackets are one type, but there are other ground wasps. They are quick to anger I think they are from the hood.

I will have to be mindful since I only found this nest because something dug it up. ?

 

[Chris M]

I hate a yellow jacket.
Kill them with fire.
Back in VA when we found them we'd wait til it got dark and they settled in and pour a few gallons of gas down the hole...wait a few seconds to let the gas settle a bit then throw a match on it.
Not safe at all, obviously, and certainly not the least eco friendly. But very damned satisfying watching those bastards burn.
Just saying.

 

[Tom_C]

My first encounter was when I was about 7, and was hanging out with my big brother while he was mowing a neighbors grass. I got bit, and then he sat the push mower over the nest for a while.

Then, when I was about 48 and mowing my own yard was going around an old stump (hint, they like old rotten stumps or other voids in the ground) and I got bit. Then, a week later, mowing the same area, I thought I would swing wide and avoid them, but got bit again. They saw me coming.

Added: I just found this out, but bears don't really like honey, they are going after the bee larvae. Same with the skunks I guess.

 

[Roscoe_t]

They tend to be at their worst this time of year -- the colonies have usually grown to maximim size and they're slowly starving out as food becomes less plentiful.

 

[NotBudule]

I hate a yellow jacket.
Kill them with fire.
Back in VA when we found them we'd wait til it got dark and they settled in and pour a few gallons of gas down the hole...wait a few seconds to let the gas settle a bit then throw a match on it.
Not safe at all, obviously, and certainly not the least eco friendly. But very damned satisfying watching those bastards burn.
Just saying.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I hate a yellow jacket.
Kill them with fire.
Back in VA when we found them we'd wait til it got dark and they settled in and pour a few gallons of gas down the hole...wait a few seconds to let the gas settle a bit then throw a match on it.
Not safe at all, obviously, and certainly not the least eco friendly. But very damned satisfying watching those bastards burn.
Just saying.

Visions of Caddyshack played through my mind reading this.

Then, I saw @NotBudule ’s post— in the words of Frank Barone, “Holy Crap!”

My first encounter was when I was about 7, and was hanging out with my big brother while he was mowing a neighbors grass. I got bit, and then he sat the push mower over the nest for a while.

Then, when I was about 48 and mowing my own yard was going around an old stump (hint, they like old rotten stumps or other voids in the ground) and I got bit. Then, a week later, mowing the same area, I thought I would swing wide and avoid them, but got bit again. They saw me coming.

Added: I just found this out, but bears don't really like honey, they are going after the bee larvae. Same with the skunks I guess.

I think they took over an abandoned vole or shrew colony in the lawn and I already plan to top soil and sod that area - hopefully, I cover all the entrances they could use in the spring.

I read that about bears too. The larvae are fat and juicy with protein at this time and a favourite with bears and others. I also wonder if it might be the possum I saw the other day. ?

 

[Joeiconic]

Yellowjacket’s in the ground are the devils handiwork. I fight them every summer and get stung at least a few times, A few years ago, i had a big nest in a brush pile where I was doing some trimming. I couldn’t figure out how to get at them, but finally two bears came along and dug them out for me!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Yellowjacket’s in the ground are the devils handiwork. I fight them every summer and get stung at least a few times, A few years ago, i had a big nest in a brush pile where I was doing some trimming. I couldn’t figure out how to get at them, but finally two bears came along and dug them out for me!

Da Bears!

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