OMGWTFBBQ!!!

[rivka]

Alex and I were eating our breakfasts in the living room when suddenly we heard a loud, low buzzing. I looked up towards the sound and saw a wasp bumping off the light fixture. And when I say "wasp," I mean OMGWTFBBQwasp. It was a full two inches long, with a wide body. Until I got a closer look, I thought it might be a cicada somehow. That's how big it was.

I'm trying not to convey my fear of bugs to Alex, but in this case it was impossible not to react with alarm.

I led her out into the dining room and shut the dining room door. I tried to say reassuring things. Then I put on a jacket, buttoned it up to the chin, grabbed the broom, and went back into the living room to do battle.

It was still buzzing around the lights. I turned them off and went through to the playroom, which has a door to the outside. I turned on the playroom lights and opened the door wide. Then I went back to find the wasp.

It had left the now-dark light fixture and was crawling along the back of the couch. I wanted to try to steer it with the broom, but of course I was also worried that if I agitated it at all it would fly at me in a rage and sting me until I died. And the thing definitely looked too big to kill.

I dabbed gently at its back with the broom. Then I got an idea. I put the bristles in front of the wasp. It crawled onto the broom. Moving carefully, keeping the broom level, I walked swiftly to the playroom door and thrust the broom outside. When I set it on the ground, the wasp crawled off and quickly flew away.

OMGWTFBBQ. How did it get in the house?!

Comments

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

The house was built in 1842, which would give that suggestion a very apocalyptic tone... not to say that it isn't true, of course. :)

My guess is that it either came down the chimney (since the fireplace is in the living room), or got through the doors while they were open recently for toddler comings and goings, or painters going to and fro. We've also had issues with various parts of the house being open without our knowledge; the roof hatch got left open in the rush to get the house ready for us to move in, and I didn't realize it until I discovered rainwater puddles on the third floor and started searching for the source. I've tried to check everything now, but since we can only look from the inside, I'm certain there are places that we haven't been able to inspect.

I'll look into what would be required to get a tactical air-defense network set up, though. :)

[wcg.livejournal.com]

tactical air-defense network

Raid wasp and hornet killer. It has a 30 foot long tight stream and it's extremely effective.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

Given the size she was talking about, I was actually figuring we'd need a missile battery, or something like Skyguard/Nautilus/THEL. With a toddler in the house, we're probably better off with your suggestion, though. :)

[lizardling.livejournal.com]

Just don't use a lighter in conjunction, and scrub off the splashback. :)