Dirt Dobber

[Justwondering]

In case my vocabulary includes the never ending array of dirt dobber nests I'm having to remove from my rides:

Dirt dobber holding mud

Dirt dobber building the nest

a full array of nests with larve in them (black areas where their head or body is coming through).

Usually its dried mud that crumbles into your hands, on your shirt, in your hair, face, etc depending on how close you are to it when you try to remove it. Generally stuck like glue when they are new and very crumbly when they are old.

 

[4speedjim]

We have something like that up here called a mud wasp. Ornery little suckers. Ive never seen nests organized with straight tubes like that. Ours resemble a bee hive but just for larve, and they seem to prefer cars more than most other places. Chevys... odd

 

[AJ/FormS]

Wow; it's hard to believe that hind-end stays attached!

 

[rcmaniac791]

I hate those things. Pretty much any hornet/wasp in general. I have found that they like to crawl up into small engines and make nests under the cooling shroud. And yes, I do have enough lawn mowers that I have several just thrown outside!

Never mind Mud Dobbers, I get to deal with ground hornets, AKA Cicada killers. They sound like a humming bird when they fly by and several have enjoyed chasing me. Never been stung by one though.

 

[BudW]

Rcmaniac791, where about do you live at?

 

[XfbodyX]

AKA Cicada killers

They are wicked, they attack and kill the locusts then they lay there eggs in them and bore a hole in the ground to let them feed off the locust. I sit on my back porch each year and watch them dogfight. Its an odd sight seeing a huge hornet toting a nearly dead locust through the air.

 

[80 Aspen RT]

I hate those things. Pretty much any hornet/wasp in general. I have found that they like to crawl up into small engines and make nests under the cooling shroud. And yes, I do have enough lawn mowers that I have several just thrown outside!

Never mind Mud Dobbers, I get to deal with ground hornets, AKA Cicada killers. They sound like a humming bird when they fly by and several have enjoyed chasing me. Never been stung by one though.

View attachment 28435

We have those here in KS too, I've seen some bigger than those! I understand that you really have to piss them off for them to sting you. Personally, I'm not going to piss them off....lol

The mud dobbers are nasty little bastards, grab the can of wasp spray when I see them !!!

 

[BudW]

If bored and having nothing else to do, take a can of spray carburetor cleaner (a LOT of similar materials work just well as well) and a lighter.

Attach the spray can extension straw in place.
Light your lighter and spray in the direction of your target.
Depending on can pressure, you can generally create a 6 to 8 foot (2 to 3 m) long flame – that instantly melts their wings off.

It can also catch the wasp’s nests on fire – but be careful. Wasp nests are made of paper, and can cause a large flame in of itself (ie: you can catch your structure on fire, if not careful).

Wasps don’t need much of a reason to sting you – so this procedure won’t piss them off as much as other methods do (plus they can’t retaliate with no legs or wings).

I do have to make a caution. This method does empty your can a lot quicker than you realize – so make sure your spray can is not something you “need to use:” right away.

Works for bees, as well.
BudW