What animal eats yellow jacket nests?

Coyote · Aug 20, 2003

Here's a crazy post. I got stung by yellow jackets while bush hoggin' in NC. Came back the next week to kill them and an animal had dug up the nest and ate all but a few pieces! Brave little sucker whatever it was! Anybody heard of this? Racoon? Fox?

herbenus · Aug 20, 2003

Don't know, but I'd guess a bird. They'll eat almost any bug and the nest may have been used as it's own nest material.

I was walking a section last night that I plan on mowing and almost walked into a nest with about 30 yellow jackets on it. Luckily I saw it. Been stung before by the little bas#@#ds and it aint fun. I'll be taking that walk again tonight, only with a can of hornet spray in my hand.

herbenus · Aug 20, 2003

Okay, I should have looked it up first. I found a couple of websites that say that skunks and possums eat yellow jackets, in particular the larvae. Now how to direct a skunk over to my wasp nest?...

Currmudgeon · Aug 20, 2003

I've long been threatening my wife that I'll raise skunks, just out of meanness. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Now I have another justification. She's allergic to bee stings.

GreenMtnMan · Aug 20, 2003

I'd like to find a skunk that will climb 40 feet up the side of our house to eat the basketball sized yellow jacket nest hanging under our eaves. It's impossible to get at without a boom lift.

PaulT · Aug 20, 2003

My German Short-haired Pointer will eat all of the yellow jackets that fly his way /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. He takes his birddog thing seriously - anything that flies is his! I bought a new gas grill this summer, and I haven't removed the old (and heavy) one from the deck yet. There is a wasp nest inside the valve panel, and he will sit patiently, pointing at the nest, until one comes or goes. Then he springs into action - literally! He snaps at one until it is squirming on the ground, then he carefully picks it up with his teeth and, biting very quickly, flings it around until it is motionless. Then he gulps it down. Strangest thing I ever saw in a dog. Yes, he gets stung, but much less so now that he has perfected his technique. I purposely leave a nest around just for his (and my) enjoyment /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

rrsquid · Aug 20, 2003

I know birds will eat wasp nests. We cleared out some juniper bushes at our house and found several nests. One was the size of a large dinner plate! After they were exposed overnight they were picked clean. We do have the occasional skunk wander by, but I haven't seen a possum in our area. However, we have lots of birds (I'm 1 mile from a bird sanctuary) and I'm sure it was them.

Mark J.

dmartin88 · Aug 20, 2003

Whatever animal it is, I want some of them at my house! A few weeks back, I was stung about 10 times and ended up in the emergency room with an allergic reaction-- paramedics and family made the difference although it was pretty bad for a while. Posted about my experience in the safety forum. Two weeks ago, I went back to where I was stung with a can of hornet spray and couldn't find a trace of the nest that I had opened with my brushog-- sprayed the area down anyway just to feel better. Glad you weren't hurt seriously.

CountryBoy · Aug 20, 2003

Skunks for sure..

kokopelli2 · Aug 21, 2003

i have had 2 dogs that do this! one a huskey shepard mix and the other a shikoku. i dont know why but they go for anything on the move.

CountryBoy · Aug 21, 2003

( i have had 2 dogs that do this! one a huskey shepard mix and the other a shikoku. i dont know why but they go for anything on the move. )

That reminds me years ago of a guy I knew who had a German Shepherd mix and the dog got in a yellow jacket nest and started chasing the bees down one by one,pretty soon his muzzle/nose was swollen up and he kept right after the bees,after that he was known as "Sting" simple dog you could shine a flashlight on the floor and he would go after the light beam and you could shine the light on the wall and the dog would try to climb the wall to get the light.Drive up to the house get out of the car and the dog would stand there and stare at you with his head tilted a little...you did not know whether to pet him or get back in the car.

Currmudgeon · Aug 22, 2003

( I'd like to find a skunk that will climb 40 feet up the side of our house to eat the basketball sized yellow jacket nest hanging under our eaves. It's impossible to get at without a boom lift. )

That's up there.

One trick I've seen done was to mount the can of bee killer on a long pole. The sample I saw was a lineman's hotstick. They had made an attachment for the end that had a bracket to hold the aerosol can in place, and a strap hinge that flipped over the top of the can. A string was attached to the end of the hinge so, when it was pulled, the hinge pressed the spray button.

Still, 40 feet is a long way.

herbenus · Aug 22, 2003

I've done this, but instaed of hornet spray, I just used one of the house bug bombs. I think because it's what I had. Attach to pole, activate can, postion pole by nest, run like hell.

Docsknotinn · Aug 27, 2003

I had a huge honey bee nest by my driveway only about 3' in the air last fall. I had big plans for that once the temps dropped low enough but theres this 500# black furry critter with big teeth and a little tail that beat me to the punch. Dave

Rus · Sep 1, 2003

My dog will eat yellow jackets, but not a whole nest of them. Got the *#?@< stung out of me last week weedeating around an old stump. I've "treated" the nest twice with hornet spray, but the nest must be pretty deep, because when the foam disappears, they're back. Ideas, anyone? I'm considering using my FEL to dump a pile of dirt over the stump, or maybe lighting a fire over the stump. Just don't want to piss them off

Docsknotinn · Sep 1, 2003

Accelerant and a Match ! lol Dave

pruntyc · Sep 1, 2003

If they are up high, most likely hornets or wasps. Yellow Jackets build in the ground. You wait till almost dark and they will all go into the hole. Then I like to take a gal. icecream bucket, and fill it about half full of gas. I pour it in the hole fast and you can leave it kills them all quick, and then they are gone. I have done this many times and it always works. No need to use a match, for the gas kills them. Kind of learned this from a painter, he would take a tin can of gas when he painted a house that had wasps or other bees, and throw it on them and go on painting no problem from them. It kills them on contact.

Docsknotinn · Sep 2, 2003

I never knew that ! You can be sure I will try that one next time /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Dave

valkman · Sep 2, 2003

It is the gas fumes that kills them actually. I read that bees don't have lungs, but breathe through their skin. So, when gas is poured in their nest, they basically suffocate immediately - you don't even need a match. Although I still touch it off - eheheh /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Quigly · Sep 9, 2003

Looks like Yellow Jackets aren't such a crazy post after all. I know skunks will eat the nest in Northern California. Last week I had my own experience here in Southern California. I was weed-wacking on the hill behind my house and suddenly felt a sting on my left wrist. I smashed him dead with my right hand. Then I felt a sting on my right elbow and noticed yellow jackets flying around me. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I've never ran so fast in my life!

...I remembered a story that my brother had told me about yellow jackets being able to smell the scent of another yellow jackets sting as they sworm. He had exposed a nest the size of a dresser while tractoring and had to run away leaving the tractor running... hours later with the help of friends, a motorcycle helmet, several layers of clothing, gloves and lots of duct tape he snuck back to recover the tractor...

Needless to say, you could hear several choice words in the canyon that day as I ran down the hill with the weed-wacker dangling off my shoulders. By the time I got to the house I had got stung again in the right fore-arm. The weed-wacker got tossed and I escaped into the house. I went straight to a full length mirror as I started ripping off my clothes and stomping on the yellow jackets that fell to the floor. I got stung one more time in the head before it was over /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I survived without any reaction, but they sure did itch for days. THOSE **** YELLOW JACKETS!!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif