[secant0give]

G’day all,

just a quick warning that there is a European Wasp’s nest near the back of the facroty units (see map)
Please be careful if you happen to be in this area. European wasps are highly aggressive and can deliver a very painful sting. They have been known to attack on mass if they are disturbed and in such cases hospitalisation of the victim and even worse has occurred.
Here is a rough map showing the location of the nest, Parramatta City council has been informed and have inspected the area, confirming that they are European wasps and will have a their pest destruction people come out and deal with them in the not too distant future.
In the meantime please let people know to be very careful to stay away from them. They can be particularly nasty creatures
For more info on European wasps follow this link
http://www.lga.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=283

Here's where they are
   

[secant0give]

More European wasps!! Please be carefull of your near the staunchen.
I just recieved this email from Grace at PCC

Hi Jason,

Just a quick email to let you know that another European Wasps nest has been reported at McCoy Park (‘Under the large power transmission line stand in Mcoy Park’) by a member of the public.
I have again forwarded this on to David Kuhle to send out the contractors once again.

Until this time, please take care at McCoy Park. I know you don’t have a Bushcare Workday scheduled for about a month, but while the club continue to meet each Saturday I thought you might want to lest the other members know.

Kind regards,


Grace Keenan
Natural Resource Officer- Bushcare
City Assets and Environment
Parramatta City Council

[disoriented]

As an ex-European, I can't help feeling a little surprised that the humble wasp would even rate a mention in the "dangerous fauna" category, what with funnel webs, red-bellied black snakes, and brown snakes to worry about

As a kid, I've been stung by the little bastards dozens of times, even hundreds. It hurts like hell for a second, but the pain and swelling tend to subside quicker than a bee sting. In Europe, people are used to wasps and they're viewed as little more than a nuisance.

Being an introduced species, I certainly understand and support efforts to eradicate them in Australia.

[Flying fisho]

Craig got stung by one of them during the last bushcare day and stated the next day that the pain had increased rather than subside. I imagine in Europe there are more than 1 species of wasp and which species was intruduced I do not know. Some people can suffer serious consequences ( & sometimes the most serious if you know what I mean) if stung by a bee when an alergy exists, so it is not much use taking these things lightly.
Is good to be aware of there existance & to take note of their nest area & avoid them until eradicated.

[disoriented]

Nah, not taking it lightly. I totally understand that an allergy can ruin someone's day (or worse). I've got an anaphylactic reaction to fish - of all things. Only ever had one attack, but the doctor said next time it's curtains. As you can imagine I tend to be wary around tuna salad.

It's just interesting to me that wasps would be on council's notify list.

[robair]

Thanks JV for clarifying the wasps are European and not African.
We should all know the consequences of not being able to differentiate between the two.
We've dodged a bullet there methinks.
Does anyone know their airspeed velocity?
Take care all....

Cheers
Rob B

[secant0give]

European wasps aren't like our native wasps they live in hives like bees or ants.
What happiness Europe is that each year in the winter, when it gets cold the hives/colonies get a lot smaller or even die due to lack of food and because of the cold. Here in Australia with a very mild winter they just continue to expand in numbers and make super colonies/hives. Some of these hives can gt to be many time the size of what they would in their native climate. Once they have been in place for a few years the hives get to such a size that they can be very dangerous if you upset them. They are much more aggressive than bees and a mega swarm of them will really take the edge off your day!! unfortunately there seems to be quite a few popping up at McCoy field. We never had them before.

Better to have the council get rid of them now while they are still small nests.

[secant0give]

Another nest has been discovered it's location is shown below. Please be very carefull if retrieving models in this area.