The Wasp

A couple of weeks ago I had noticed three wasp nests in the 4 foot tall junipers that form a hedge in the parkway on the west side of the driveway. That sidewalk passage had become narrower with the bougainvillea growing out on one side and the juniper on the other. I also wanted to work on getting rid of the bermuda grass growing along the sidewalk underneath the juniper. It was lucky I saw the nests before I disturbed them. They were towards the top, hanging upside down as usual, but pretty well hidden. I wanted to knock them off and bring them into school for the kids to observe, as I've done in the past, but I got busy with all the other things that needed to be done at the beginning of the school year and just didn't take the time to get them.

This morning I saw that the bermuda grass was starting to grow back again. It's so hard to get all of those roots, especially when you can't really dig down. The junipers have been there for a long time and are dense, growing right to the edge of the sidewalk. But I thought if I stayed on top of the situation at least it wouldn't look quite as bad as I had let it get to in the past. So I grabbed a trowel and worked away, carefully, trying not break the roots but pull them out whole, if possible. It gave me great satisfaction when I could pull out a relatively thick, white main root. I know this job will never be done, they will always be there because I won't spray any kind of selective herbicide. But that' s OK.

While I was working I noticed again the wasp nests. Early in the morning is the best time to knock down nests while the wasps are still cool and slow moving. Though it was 11 AM and a warm day I thought I could handle the situation. I got a broom and a container. I used the broom handle to knock down the most accessible nest. It fell just a couple of inches to the next level of branches below. I stepped back as the wasps flew off in many directions. The nests I've collected in the past have been along the path to the front door, attached to the extension of the roof that covers the path. I would knock the nest down then leave it alone for hours allowing the wasps to realize that their nest was no longer viable and leave permanently. But in this situation I thought I might forget about the nest since it wasn't really visible if you didn't know it was there. So I pressed forward on my mission. I had put the broom down when I stepped away but picked it up again to continue maneuvering the nest so that I could pick it up. But when I grabbed the broom I didn't look first and my hand wrapped around a wasp resting on the handle, stinging me in the soft area between the thumb and index finger. Man oh man, that sting really hurt. I hurried to get some hydrogen peroxide. I poured it over the sting then poured it on a paper towel which I wrapped around my hand. At least it was my left hand. I held that paper towel in place while I finished my nest gathering and then off to the hardware store, Trader Joe's, then school. It felt fine by the time I got to school.

When I took the container out of the plastic grocery bag at school I saw a wasp inside. It had to have emerged after I had put the nest in the container because there hadn't been any wasps there when I put it in. I took the container over to the gate into the garden. I crouched down and opened the container. These insects are really slow moving when they first emerge so I knew it wouldn't fly out. I reached in and picked up the nest by the slender "handle" which attaches the nests in place. Putting it on the concrete area outside the gate I knocked it a little to knock the wasp off. He slowly walked along and then up the one brick high step into the garden and under the chain link gate. I turned my attention briefly to putting the nest back in the container. Then I looked back again to check on the wasp. He was still just inside the gate, on the brick, and it looked like he had started to hide himself in what appeared to be an open section of bark from one of the tree stumps that I had lined up along that section of fencing. But that piece of bark moved and I quickly realized that the front of the wasp was in the mouth of a lizard. This brought a quiet "Whoaaa!" to my lips. As the lizard immediately zipped away I thought, "He's not bothered by the sting, or his bite is just right to avoid it."

This garden has been a real locus of wildlife action. And one of the events happened right at the little tree stump where the wasp was caught. It was last year, at the end of our class time in the garden for that day. Most of the students had exited to put their tools away in the workroom and wait for me to dismiss them to the classroom. On my way out the gate I noticed a lizard on the 2 foot tall tree stump. He was on the side opposite to me, with his head even with the top of the stump. I was surprised that he didn't move away since I was within a foot from him. But then I saw why he didn't move. There were insects, sort of orangish colored, climbing out of cracks in the top to the wood and flying away. Or the ones that the lizard didn't catch were flying away. It was amazing how quickly this reptile moved. In a heartbeat he was up and grabbing and chewing then back into position for the next prey.

There were a few students who had tarried to help me with checking to make sure all of the tools were picked up and everything was put away properly. I called them over. We watched with delight and fascination our live wildlife nature event.