stuff i tell my sister

I have felt like a prisoner in my own home for a couple of weeks now.  My green grass is fading for lack of water.  There are sprigs of Bermuda grass popping up in my flower beds.  Some of the flowers are dying.  You are thinking drought, right?  The real reason?  I am a big chicken.  We have become infested with cicada killer wasps.  And each time I go outside, here they come. I never go out now without a can of hornet spray.  Last week I mowed the yard with the can tucked under my arm.  Several times I took off running, screaming, my arms flailing, while attempting to spray the varmint.  For any neighbors looking on, it has to be a hoot. I wonder if I’m on YouTube? 🙂                                                             cicada killer wasp mounds

Last summer, our little Sugar dog stuck her nose in one the mounds that house the cicada killers.  It got her. Poor baby.  (That was a vet visit.)

I have done my research on how to rid them from our yard. (How to Get Rid of Ground Digger Wasps) The first article said to leave them alone.  They will only stay around a month or so. The spray simply slows them down so you can squish them. But I don’t squish things. They say only the females can sting, but that the males are aggressive.  When I am dashing across the yard, I can assure you I am not a bit curious about the gender of the predator.  My neighbor a couple of houses down, joins me in the seriousness of the matter.  His new weapon of choice?  A racquet ball racquet.  Yep.  He is a brave man.  And he had quite a good little collection of critters on his front sidewalk! 

Yesterday, the evil of all evils occurred.  While I was attempting to let the pups inside, guess who came in instead?  HORRORS!  My heart was racing.  I had to think fast.  He-She was buzzing at my head. SOOOOOO…..I turned loose of the screen door while slamming the backdoor shut at the same time.  The creature was now trapped between the two doors.  My poor little dogs were gazing at me through the back window.  I had to get them inside without opening those doors.  I found their leashes and headed around the house through the gate, leashed the girls and brought them in the house.  Then I started worrying about my trapped friend.  Could he wiggle inside through a crevice? (hubby says they could not)  I grabbed my blue masking tape and taped off all seams of the door.  I also sent my hubby a “HELP” text.

Hubby arrived a little while later.  He went through the backyard, opened the backdoor and sprayed the little critter.  I watched, holding my backup can of Real Kill.  I am braver when I have a sidekick.  but not much!  Then we came inside and hubby removed all the blue tape from the backdoor.

Hubby was my hero, again.  He commended me for acting quickly and thinking on my feet. 😉 He says if we ever have atomic warfare, he will feel safe with me in charge.  Cause I am the queen of taping off crevices and seams.  😉

This is my life.  For another month? I am going to hire someone to mow.  For one month.  Oh bother ~

Hope YOU have a good day.  Free of critters!

p.s.  After midnight last night, we attempted the method used in the above article.  We shall see what happens ~