I took a trip out to the bog today. Wanted to see how the dews were doing and collect some fresh LFS. Snapped a few pics along the way as usual. Enjoy!
I love the ferns out here..
Was pretty easy to find the dews with all the little white flowers everywhere.
So.. throughout the bog I kept seeing these large areas where everything was flattened and dead. At first I just thought it was a deer bed, which is pretty common in the area. There were about a dozen of them all around me. Some were quite large, others were only the size of a diningroom table. It wasn't until I trudged out of knee high brush straight into a 10ft. clearing that I realized what these "beds" actually were. Underground colonies of giant yellow jackets!! It was then I realized the true danger I was in. These colonies were HUGE.. and all around me. It was 95*F with 95% humidity.. but it wasn't until now that I began to pour sweat. Luckily I escaped safe and sound.. Moving extremely slowly, and carefully, I high tailed it out of there. I'll check back once more in the fall.. but other than that I'll leave them be.
A medium sized hive I accidentally stumbled upon..
And a smaller hive only 20 ft. away
After the encounter I decided to take a walk through the woods rather than cutting through the bog as usual. Here's what I found.. along with a QUAD-ZILLION mosquitoes.
.. Continued.
I love the ferns out here..
Was pretty easy to find the dews with all the little white flowers everywhere.
So.. throughout the bog I kept seeing these large areas where everything was flattened and dead. At first I just thought it was a deer bed, which is pretty common in the area. There were about a dozen of them all around me. Some were quite large, others were only the size of a diningroom table. It wasn't until I trudged out of knee high brush straight into a 10ft. clearing that I realized what these "beds" actually were. Underground colonies of giant yellow jackets!! It was then I realized the true danger I was in. These colonies were HUGE.. and all around me. It was 95*F with 95% humidity.. but it wasn't until now that I began to pour sweat. Luckily I escaped safe and sound.. Moving extremely slowly, and carefully, I high tailed it out of there. I'll check back once more in the fall.. but other than that I'll leave them be.
A medium sized hive I accidentally stumbled upon..
And a smaller hive only 20 ft. away
After the encounter I decided to take a walk through the woods rather than cutting through the bog as usual. Here's what I found.. along with a QUAD-ZILLION mosquitoes.
.. Continued.