Hornet Busters! A 'swat' team with Murder Hornet-sized protective suits and equipment (Page 1/3) rinselberg OCT 27, 05:00 PM A 7-person team (7 by my count) eradicated an Asian Giant Hornet's nest in Washington state, in the first officially recorded nest eradication. The team were all clad in protective suits that look like something from a future NASA lunar habitat scenario. They carried off many dozens of the super-sized hornets (dead, by the looks of it) in a kind of vacuum bottle-looking thing that literally dwarfs the team member that's holding it. The bad news--they didn't "get" the Queen. This is a 2-minute video report from CNN. https://www.cnn.com/videos/...gton-orig-dp-llr.cnn Patrick OCT 27, 05:31 PM quote Originally posted by rinselberg: A 7-person team (7 by my count) eradicated an Asian Giant Hornet's nest in Washington state, in the first officially recorded nest eradication. As the crow (or murder hornet) flies, that site is only 25 miles from here. I'm glad the US/Canadian border remains closed. maryjane OCT 27, 09:09 PM As someone that has personally dealt with hornets (not the murder kind) more than once, I don't blame the team for 'suiting up'. It's not just the painfulness of the stings, but their pursuing aggressiveness that makes them a real pita. Rickady88GT OCT 27, 09:53 PM quote Originally posted by maryjane: As someone that has personally dealt with hornets (not the murder kind) more than once, I don't blame the team for 'suiting up'. It's not just the painfulness of the stings, but their pursuing aggressiveness that makes them a real pita. I checked for videos of drones chopping up hornets, but did not find a good one. maryjane OCT 27, 11:03 PM I can tell you, that a 6' brush hog sitting on top of a ground hornet's nest running wide open does a pretty good job but it's the few that get out that will still make you throw the tractor into high gear and haul ass out of there. They can still outrun you tho. If you run over one with a lawn tractor, back up over the mound, just leave the machine running, lock the clutch down and abandon mower. They'll attack the mower and leave you alone once you've moved off a ways. MidEngineManiac OCT 27, 11:16 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: As the crow (or murder hornet) flies, that site is only 25 miles from here. I'm glad the US/Canadian border remains closed. Arent they already illegal aliens undocumented migrants ? What's one more border.... Patrick OCT 28, 12:06 AM quote Originally posted by maryjane: If you run over one with a lawn tractor, back up over the mound, just leave the machine running, lock the clutch down and abandon mower. They'll attack the mower and leave you alone once you've moved off a ways. So... how do you retrieve the lawn tractor? Go back at night when the hornets have bedded down... and the tractor has run out of gas? cliffw OCT 28, 07:07 AM quote Originally posted by Patrick: So... how do you retrieve the lawn tractor? Hold my beer and watch this ... fierofool OCT 28, 07:22 AM quote Originally posted by maryjane: I can tell you, that a 6' brush hog sitting on top of a ground hornet's nest running wide open does a pretty good job but it's the few that get out that will still make you throw the tractor into high gear and haul ass out of there. They can still outrun you tho. If you run over one with a lawn tractor, back up over the mound, just leave the machine running, lock the clutch down and abandon mower. They'll attack the mower and leave you alone once you've moved off a ways. Once my dad was laying up terraces. He made one pass and returned on another terrace row. As he started his second pass, he said he noticed a swarm of gnats and thought nothing of it until he drove into it. The yellow jackets started pinging on the coolant fan and motor shroud, then one got him on the cheek. He was very afraid of bees but he said he just put in the clutch and sat there for a moment, hoping others wouldn't find him. No luck. When they attacked in full force, he jumped off the tractor with it still in gear. It eventually turned downhill and cut a trench through every terrace in the field until he caught up to it. A quart of gasoline that night took care of the beasts. When he got home, his face was swollen as if he'd been in a heavyweight boxing match. Boondawg OCT 28, 01:45 PM quote Originally posted by maryjane: It's not just the painfulness of the stings, but their pursuing aggressiveness that makes them a real pita. I can take quite a few bee stings with little notice but I was shocked at just how painful hornet stings were and how relentlessly aggressive they were until I moved to Washington! I found them when I heard 3 kids screaming outside and found they had stepped on a nest in the ground. I had never seen that level of aggression in flying stingy-things before. Absolutely relentless. I immediately adopted a scorched-earth policy and drownt them with Dawn dishwashing detergent on a garden hose sprayer. There can be only one ruler in my domain, and she said get it done!