© AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Sven Spichiger, Washington State Department of Agriculture managing entomologist, displays a canister of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a nest in a tree behind him Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, in Blaine, Wash.
Finally, some good news this year.
Entomologists in Washington have destroyed the first nest of Asian giant hornets, or murder hornets, as they've become known in our collective nightmares, discovered in the U.S., the Associated Press
reports.
Crews clad head-to-toe in thick protective gear, looking like they stepped straight out of HBO's
Chernobyl, worked to vacuum the invasive species from the hollow of a tree into bulky canisters on Saturday. If it looks like overkill, remember that these hornets didn't earn such a terrifying nickname for nothing: Their stings have been described as
"like having red-hot thumbtacks" stabbed into you, and the suits keep workers protected from their 6-millimeter-long stingers. The crew came equipped with face shields, too. Because did I mention these things have also been known to
spit painful venom into people's eyes?
Comment: The last 9 months has seen an extraordinary number of fatalities as a result of canine attacks on people right across the world, many by trusted, long-time family pets. As human behavior becomes increasingly crazy perhaps this is being echoed in the animal kingdom? And not least by those creatures most chiefly associated with man?
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