Murder hornets. The name alone was pretty much designed to scare the drawers off us. Which is a dangerous thing to do, seeing as how many of us spend the day in our jammies.
But the giant Asian hornet made the news this week. And it did get people’s minds off Covid-19 for a little while.
But then people who actually know these things started explaining them. They have only been spotted in a couple small pockets. No one is quite sure if they are even capable of surviving our winters. They are very dangerous, if you happen to be a honey bee. Which is a little sad because we need more honey bees, not more things intent on eating them. And while there are a handful of deaths each year in Asia, the fact is, these things tend not to bother humans unless we bother their nests. So don’t do that.
Then, while looking through social media today and someone had posted a video of a praying mantis turning one of these so called murder hornets into a quick lunch. So there’s your answer. Unleash the mantises.
Not that these big, nasty looking critters couldn’t spread from a single nest out west to the rest of the country, but I’m not ready to panic just yet. Sure, other bugs have done it. You can probably name a few yourself. Like that little fuzzball that’s killing all the hemlocks. Or those Western conifer seed bugs. Some people call them stink bugs, and they do smell a bit when you stomp ’em, but the actual stink bug has slightly larger shoulders. But these shield shaped bugs started appearing a few years ago from… where?
Anyway, the murder hornet scare was a nice distraction for a few moments. But if they start to come for us, let them come. There’s one thing these giant hornets don’t know. I have Raid. Come at me.
Now… about the name of Elon Musk’s baby. What’s up with that?
Although all this proves we really do need to get out more.
