One of the fun things about hiking is the interesting things you might find on your journey. The best thing to do is look everywhere you can. You do this for two reasons. One is for your own safety. You don't want to fall or step on the wrong thing, and injure yourself.The other reason is for what I started to say before. The interesting things to see. I was walking along one of the nature trails, and I happened to look up in one of the trees, and I saw something special. It was beginning to get dark outside so it wasn't really easy to see, but I still saw it.
It was the wasp nest in my picture here. This thing was very high up in the tree. It was about the same size as a basketball. When I saw it I was actually looking for bird's nests, so something like this stood right out for me. Since there are no leaves left on the trees I saw it quite clearly.
The only problem was that the sky was darkening, and the nest was the very same color as the trees bark. I read that wasps make these nests out of the bark of a tree, and turn it into a kind of paper. It forms layers that get bigger and bigger as they add more on.
This wasp colony must be huge! I'm glad it was so cold out, I really don't want to be around a bunch of wasps. Most people know they'll sting you if you bother them. I'm sure they were probably in there dormant for the winter. When spring comes around, this nest will probably be literally buzzing with activity.
I took a few pictures of this nest to try to get a good one. It might be easier to see if it was brighter outside, but who knows when I'll be back this way. I gotta get 'em while I can. Looking at the size of this nest, I wonder how many thousand wasps live in there. It was just another unique thing I saw on today's everyday adventure. I wonder what's next...
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Hi Ratty,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, I always enjoy having you visit the "W&RW". This is a great post, I hike also and usually find something new on the trail.
Happy Holidays,
A.J.
I honestly thought it was too cold for wasps to be hanging out, but just the other day I killed 10 or so of the buggers that appeared to be looking to build a new nest on my front overhang.
ReplyDeleteI came across one yesterday but it was torn all up. I'll have to post the pic so you can see the innards of a nest. I have a shot of another nest from the summer so I should be able to put a decent enough post together.
ReplyDeleteThank you, A.J.. I like your art and your writing. Others would also benefit from seeing it. I think finding new things is what's so great about hiking.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was too cold too, Nukeit. They must have been some determined wasps. Wasps build several nests out in my shed every year, no matter how much I try and stop them.
That would be great, WiseAcre. I don't think I've ever seen the inside of a wasp nest before. I'm looking forward to it.