They are a very big wasp. 2 inches long or so. Very impressive looking. One of my school friends caught one for a school project years ago. I still remember it. I have no info, just felt like posting.
From your description, it sounds like you have crawfish (crayfish) on your property. Crawfish live in the ground and make mud chimneys where they burrow their holes.
Yellow jackets:lunch for the skunks...the skunks will root the nests out on occasion,I have seen the aftermath,I have also smelled the aftermath./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
JD425 lawn tractor; JD4710 CUT; JD JX75 Walk Behind
OK......now let's talk Yellow Jackets. This afternoon I was triming the high weeds against the foundation of my barn when I stumbled upon a nest of Yellow Jackets. These critters went crazy and so did I. I poured bug killer and gasoline on the nest, then dug out the nest. The Yellow Jackets weren't happy. They swarmed, I ran, and I'll fight this battle another day.
Webmeister
Go to this site and look at the pictures of the cicada killer's life cycle and see if that isn't what you have <A target="_blank" HREF=http://homepages.culver.edu/faculty/jcoelho/thriller.htm>http://homepages.culver.edu/faculty/jcoelho/thriller.htm</A>. From your description I believe that you do have a cicada killer wasp. Some people have described them as aggresive but I have not found them to be as aggresive as yellow jackets. I have never been stung by one but when I ran into one riding my motorcycle, I thought I had been shot/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif.
You ran from the yellow jackets and got away? The last
run in I had with the little buggers I did the ran away as fast
as I could but the $%^&*( FOLLOWED me! I had to run some
more. I ran to the tractor and from there I was ready to make
my stand! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Thank goodness they did not follow me after the second run!