Greeting everyone. I am in the U.S. I don't know a lot about UK animals but, some things are universal. I thought I would make this my first post, it might save lives.

Animals study our behavior a lot more than we
study theirs, especially, since humans are well
known to be the most murderous species on the planet.
There are two kinds of animals that lie, predators
and prey. They do this by either camouflage or behavior.

Developing the ability to communicate to an animal that you
are neither one, is a skill that every person needs to develop. It will
save both you and animals from being needlessly harmed or killed.

Here is a demonstration my father did that will illustrate the technique of body language. He showed me how to pet a nest of wasps on their backs without getting stung.
In my neck of the woods, the real Yellow Jacket wasps (and these are not friendly creatures) are often found in wild plum thickets. Locating the nest, my father walked to within 10 feet of the nest and then, picked a plum and slowly started to chew it as he stood there.

A half dozen angry Yellow Jackets flew over and began circling his head. Unfazed, my father turned away from the nest, slowly and calmly waved them away from his face and continued to eat his plum. The Yellow Jackets widened their flight pattern and continued to circle his head and act annoyed.

My father, then, moved to the next plum, which was a little closer to the nest, plucked it, turned from the nest and stood there, slowly eating that one. By the third plum, the Yellow Jackets began to see a pattern in his behavior and flew back closer to their nest to observe him from there and watch to see if he was lying. Heaven help him if he is lying.

By the time he was getting close to their nest, because his behavior had never altered, all of the Yellow Jackets were back on their nest, laying low, keeping their eyes on him and waiting for him to pass.

Now, here's the fun part. Since he had been taking about two steps to each new plum, and he was now only one step away from the nest, he took one step, slowly ran the palm of his hand
across all of their backs, took the second step and plucked a plum. He turned away from the nest and quietly stood there and ate that plum. He, then, continued his behavior all the way to safety.

I got it and mastered it but, my poor brother never did. The Yellow Jackets would unload on him all the way to the pond. He would dive in and go under and they would always be waiting for him to surface for one last good stinging. Making sure that he got their message. Meanwhile, my father and I would be enjoying our plums and quietly chuckling to ourselves. Sorry, you had to be there. lol

In practical use, this has saved me more times than I can remember. An example:
I was mowing my lawn and as I approached the house, I heard and saw Bumble Bees. They had built a nest under the house.
The split second I saw them, I turned the mower, never changing speed, and began walking away. Every time I came back around, I got a little closer until I would see them come out, then turn away and keep mowing. Eventually, I was able to mow right next to the entrance to their hive and not get stung. Yippee!

After being on my property for 30 years, all of the insects and other animals have been around us all of their lives. We've acted this way with every encounter we've ever had with them and we don't have problems with them. We all get along.

My wife goes to see her relatives, who live in a different state, once a year. All of them, and her, too, when she visits them, get stung a lot. Her relatives are always in a constant war with bees and wasps, killing and poisoning them whenever they confront them. Actions do cause reactions.
I like my method a lot better. Thanks, Dad.

Greetings!

I never really get bothered by Wasps and Bees. But then I don't wave and flap my arms about which probably makes them think they're going to be squashed. That's when they sting.

hi roy
like your story about your experiences with wasps and bees, but i thinks maybe there is something a little more complex at work than repitition. like dave has said on the previous post, by being calm wasps and bees will leave you well alone while people who are scared panic wave their arms and antagonise them into retaliation. My thought is that we are not giving these hymenopterans the credit of chemoreception which they all posses, thus people who panic give of hormones that these insects pick up and therefore smell you fear and gain the confidence to shoo you away. What your father might have been doing was building up his confidence and thus gradually easing any fear he had of approaching the nest and therefore reducing any hormonal signals. I have this experience firsthand as we have wasps, bees and hornets visit our tea break shed dailly to strip it for their nest building, when i first started working there a few years ago they drove me mad flying round head and i used to flail my arms around and get chased, but over time i have become used to them and hence they don't bother me any more. Another factor that can be taken into account occurs later in the summer when the workers have finished building the nest and therefore have no purpose in the social structure and they have time on their hands, at this time of the year they go get intoxicated on fruit and then can become more of a nuisance.

i hate wasps the little bar stewards
i was mowing the loan and accidentally disturbed a nest without knowing it was there
got stung several times all over my body and went to casualty for treatment
was seen straight away by the medics

Hi Roy, welcome to the site.
I often get amongst the Wasps later in the year as I photograph them feeding on the Ivy. In general, don't appear agressive to them and they'll leave you alone.
You mention the Bumble Bee; you have to try hard to make these sting you. The humble Bumble is no threat to anyone.

Keith.

I used bees and wasps as an example but, I use the same technique with other animals. It is a matter of body language and conveying to the animal that one is there for another reason that doesn't concern them and you are not a threat to them.
I have had a lot of different wild animals relax and just hang out with me from this. Some have even followed me home.
Are there raccoons in the UK?

I'm not a big fan of wasps. I sat over a nest one day which was a hole in the ground and got stung nine times all around my throat, just glad I'm not ellergic to them. It hurt a bit of course.

We removed a fence post at the end of a hedge a while ago and put a pot over the hole, however, there was a slight gap as the ground is eneven. My uvver arf decided to move the pot the other day only to find a wasp nest in there, we walk past it several times on a daily basis and didn't know. Yeee Ha - its pay back time so out came the barby fluid and a copious amount went into the hole - followed by a lit twig - bingo - no more wasps.

We've also got a bees nest over by the pond where the corner of the hedge is. I was cutting the hedge the other day and had loadsa bees after me but they don't bother me. One of them had right attitude and kept buzzing me for hours after every time I went in the garden.

I got stung by a big bumbler one day on my neck while driving in the car - not reccommended I can tell you. The sight of this thing was enough to put the fear of Christ up me, however, the sting didn't actually hurt but the next day I couldn't move my head and my neck was aching bad.

No more wasps though -

This post was last modified: 04-07-2009 05:08 PM by Yogi..

Yeah, we have loads - but only in zoo's.

While I know that wasps can be a nuisance, don't just kill them indisciminately, they are really beneficial in the garden as they feed on other insects which frequently ARE pests.

Roy, I think you are being too anthropomorphic in your treatment of animals - giving them the reasoning powers of humans. Most animals respond to threat, interpreted in their own way. Don't give them any reason to interpret threat and there's a good chance they won't attack, but it's not always the case, since we cannot know what instincts they have for defence.

This post was last modified: 05-07-2009 05:02 PM by wild canon.