3:00 snapshot #1338: Wildlife, real and imagined, at the zoo

[urbpan]

These yellow jackets made their paper nest under a platform that supports an HVAC unit. When that unit was serviced, the technician was stung. I sprayed the nest with pesticide, and set up bright yellow sticky traps that a) catch the workers that were not in the nest when it was treated and b) alert passersby that there are angry yellow jackets in the area.


Elsewhere a much less aggressive species of social wasp, the European paper wasp, has built a nest under the flashing on the outside of a barn. Notice the color of the antennae compared to the yellow jackets.


A Sciurus carolinenis feeds on the fruiting body of Lactarius hygrophoroides. My coworker said "I hope that's not a poisonous mushroom!" I said, "Who's side are you ON?"


It's been lovely but I have to scream now.