Bathroom Thunderdome: Felix vs. Wasp (and Moths)


As I was outside, working on watering the backyard… I got a text from Liz. It said that she had trapped a wasp in the bathroom. So quick as I could, I ran upstairs, threw on a jacket, grabbed a flyswatter… and entered into the upstairs bathroom.

Where I waited, for about 45 minutes.

The wasp was up in the ceiling light, and when I first entered… it was buzzing around like crazy. Though I am not an insect specialist, the sound it was making was telling me that the guy was getting really pissed off. And so I waited.

The intense buzzing would be accompanied by me seeing his silhouette from time to time, and also his reflection in the chrome of the light. He seemed to be sticking around up there – intent on finding a way out through the light.

After about 10 minutes, the buzzing subsided. And then it’d pick back up again in intensity, every 5 minutes after that. I eventually began to wonder whether I was just going to stick around and wait for him to die up there, in the light.

No suck luck. At one point, he emerges and starts to fly around the room. I went from bored to instantly terrified, as he was kind of just flying across the bathroom at a low altitude (which I swear was headed right for my eyes). I swung blindly once at him, and totally whiffed it. After my miss, he just went back up to the light.

I didn’t really want to leave the bathroom, having this guy just in our house unattended to. So I just ended up having to wait him out. After about 45 minutes, he came out again and did the same low altitude trek. This time around, I was able to bat him in the air like a tennis ball. Twice, actually. And finally took him down.


Later on in the evening, when we were outside cooking… I opened the grill to find a small (empty) nest. There’s a similar (small and empty) nest on the side of our house, near the back door. Guess it’s time to do a more thorough scan of the outside.

The wasp is actually a mud dauber – and we first suspected that it was drawn to the backyard with all work that’s been done lately. I mean – talking about some serious mud.

It sounds like they’re not that aggressive and rarely sting. Which is good news. Although the sheer look of them just gives me the creeps. Their tails seems to be super thin, except for the end which balloons out into something that looks as big (if not bigger) than their heads.

It’s like seeing a normal looking guy, but he has Popeye arms. You figure that if he punches you, it’s probably going to hurt. A lot.

Did I also mention that we’ve had several (large) moths in the house this week too? And that both of them were also dispatched by me, inside the same bathroom? This is fast turning into a kind of weird Thunderdome scenario for me. Which is ok so far, in that I’ve been winning. But it’s still a little unnerving.

The moths are the size of half-dollars, and both so far have really been dive-bombing me. Liz says that it’s because my hair is dark, and they’re just looking for a place to hide. But I think we all know the truth: they know only one of us gets to walk out of the bathroom alive.

Related:
Transporting Jake’s Grill
Our New Old Grill
The Billion Bug Highway Above Your Head
My Wife Texts Me a Short Tirade Made Entirely of Profanity, Which Leaves Me Confused And Slightly Worried

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Update: killed another wasp in Liz’s sewing room. Not sure how they’re getting in, but two in two days is a little disconcerting. We’ve stopped up the walls with Great Stuff foam, but maybe they’re coming in through the attic?

    Definitely need to go outside and see if we can see if they’re setting up shop somewhere.

    avoision Reply


  2. I just suck them up with the vacuum cleaner. Zoom!

    Alex G. Reply


    • That’s pretty ingenious! Although – do you just leave them in the vacuum to die slowly, like Boba Fett? Aren’t you worried they’ll somehow escape, like uh… Boba Fett? And then just be doubly angry about things?

      Vacuum really is a great idea.

      avoision Reply


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