Meet the European Hornet! Rather big , flashy insect visiting my Foxglove Flowers.
This is the first time I had noticed this visitor here at the house, or anywhere! The first three photographs are cropped. I was not sure what I was dealing with so gave this bee plenty of room! The series of photographs is rather long so I stuck to uploading just these six photographs. Also had to read up on this European Hornet, for like I said I never photographed this species before.
The neighbor home was not lived in for some years so I do wonder what the new neighbors may have living with them over there? Hopefully this European Hornet and the other Hornets were just passing through?
Reading up on the European Hornet it sounds like this is not something one wants to deal with as far as a nest goes! Since we are the High Desert we have plenty of canyons. The state is trying to clean up the juniper trees that could be home to such creatures, the canyon rocks may make a nice place to set up shop for such creatures to build their nests?
The flowers you see here is the Foxglove. The Foxglove is not a flower you want to go unchecked! This species of flower is pretty and I do like the Foxglove, however I also worked for a ranch where I had to kill the Foxglove (for a reason, however we are not talking about the Foxglove Flower), so ying yang.
I like the shot above for the shot above shows the abdomen, or the nasty part of any Hornet. I can not express to you how big this European Hornet is! I read where the males do not sting. HELLO, I just do not know which is male, which is female and I for one do not want to find out the hard way!
The only "true", Hornet is North America is what I read. When I read that something is "extremely" aggressive this is just not something my common sense had to be told. I do not pick up, try to touch any of the creatures that is new to me for such a reason. Ignorance is not a pretty thing. One look at this insect told me do not mess with it!
Red to me means fire. Sure some creatures are like mushrooms. Which one is ok, which one is not? Seeing this creature in my garden also is one reason I told the neighbor that I really do not want his children to come with me in my garden until he and his wife are sure the children are not allergic, and know the rules about such wildlife that can sting. The children are super good kids and watched and waited where I asked them to.
The other neighbor who feels it is ok to come into my garden, pick my flowers (huge no no), and do whatever she wants to without my permission is another story.
We do have wasps here in the High Desert! So many wasps that they set up shop what seams like over night!! Constantly looking out for these nests and destroying them. Wasps will set up shop even in peoples vehicles! I have rules, one of the rules is if you can hurt me you will not set up shop here!! People who know me in the real world know I just can not put up with such things. The wasps do try, got to give them credit for trying!! The European Hornet eats such things as wasps. Not that I will excuse the European Hornet from setting up shop here for this!
I would think if a person has the European Hornet setting up shop on their property the person would have common sense to pay a professional to take care of the nest. Some folks might be surprised to hear me say such a thing as to kill off something, however sometimes wildlife can get out of hand. Knowing I have such a Hornet even visiting the garden like the European Hornet has made me more alert, looking for such a nest, making such places as our lilac bushes / tree's not a place that would be a comfortable place for such a thing to set up shop in.
Knowing I am not my brothers keeper, or what my neighbors do or dont do I have no control over. I just wished folks were more aware of their environment. Specially when children are involved.
I get many visitors after my morning watering. Living here in the High Desert is different then living say, in the valley where I grew up. One has to water on this side of the Cascade Mountains if you want a garden! Even grass which I am not real fond of, though understand the benefits of such a thing as lawn, you have to water it too!! Since water is such a big deal here in the High Desert, visitors do stop and get drinks, perhaps something to eat before moving on. Once visitors know we are here, we do see the same species of visitors stop year after year. Some visitors set up shop, like I said though they have to be within my rules to stick around. The European Hornet is not within my rules.
My afternoon/evening watering we do get visitors. Though with Guy's work schedule the way it has been the last couple of years we have to get sleep sometime ha!
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my photography, and/or my observations of my world around me.
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