On 08/29/2010 06:42 PM, David Rance wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010, David in Normandy wrote:

Over the last three days I've found three hornets, once in the
bathroom,
then in the living room then one upstairs. Besides the mystery of how
they
got into the house I'm puzzled by why all three hornet just walked
very
slowly along the floor and seemed almost in a daze. I flattened each
under
foot without them even attempting to fly away. Anyone else had any
dozy
hornets? Why are they behaving like that? The ones I've encountered
occasionally outside seem anything but docile.

Well. bully for you, do you kill everything that you don't understand!

Sarcasm is not helpful when you feel you might be aggressed. I'm
certainly not going to hang around in the presence of a hornet to see if
your words are true!

I must admit, the guy put my back up from the first sentence.

Patronising sarcasm is the best way of putting anyone's back up - but I
expect that's what he was trying to do.


Yes indeed. You were probably right not to respond. Anyway there's no
dearth of hornets here in Normandy.

And they certainly do sting, my daughter has been stung and she's about
as aggressive as a rabbit (not counting Monty Python, mind). On the
more aggressive front, my poor Dad left his window open here with the
light on a few years ago and started stamping them barefoot; he had a
ton of stings on the bottom of his foot! Talk about dozy.

Not the best way to promote his cause; especially since I'm very much
an animal and nature lover... I often catch bumblebees that have found
themselves indoors and escort them outside, similarly with spiders or
other strange beetles that somehow get in occasionally.

Well, me too. The wasp that stung me an hour or so ago was still alive
on the bedroom floor, though rather dozy. I don't expect it will last
long but nevertheless I scooped it up on a piece of card and put it
outside on the bank.


Your wasp is probably over here now eating my peaches with his mates.

Anyway I suspect most gardeners are apt to put the beastie back rather
than swatting. I've spent the afternoon on the tractor swerving around
field mice; which doesn't stop me from congratulating the cat when she
brings them to the door.

However, with the reputation hornets have I was taking no chances.
However, having done a little research on the internet since then, it
seems the variety is the common European Hornet and they are
supposedly less aggressive than wasps; and less aggressive than
generally feared.

Well, the sound they make is reminiscent of a Lancaster bomber and
that's enough to put the frighteners on me! I must say that those I've
encountered may well have been less aggressive than a wasp but when I
got too close they certainly warned me off with buzzing tactics.


They're quite easy to shew out if they've come in through a window and
haven't spent too much time indoors. They seem to remember the most
recently traversed path quite well.

BTW, as recently seen on TV, the Calvados is now the only department in
Normandy that still destroys the nests for free. Here in the Orne you
have to pay a private contractor now, it's about 60 EU. We had a
positively enormous nest in the attic a few years back (no doubt
corresponding to my old Dad's encounter) that needed to go.

-E