Pier Wasps!

 Going to the pier is something I do dozens of times each day.  It seems as if the water calls to me.  Most of the time, I am just there.  I am not fishing.  I am not going to the skiff.  I am just there.  All things to do with the water and the marshes interest me so the camera is nearly always in hand.  I have learned that the best things happen when the camera is sitting back on the coffee table so I have learned to keep it nearby.  Interesting things can happen at a moment's notice.  Today was no different.  Interesting things (at least, interesting to me) kept popping up in the most unexpected places.

  The pier posts are about twelve feet apart.  I tell you this to give you an idea of how near I was to the shore end of the pier.  I was between the first two sets of posts when I spied what appeared to be a cluster of seed pods hanging on a low branch.  Even with the bad eye sight, I knew this was not a possibility as the "seed pods" were dangling from a black gum tree branch.  Nope.  Those seeds do not have weird pods.  They are more like a hard blue berries.  Still, this cluster of "dried" pods made me stop to gather a photograph.  As I focused the camera, it became apparent that this was not any kind of seed pod but rather a wasp nest.  There were dozens of huge wasps crawling around on the nest and nearby branch.  My goodness!  That was nest was unusual looking!  Each cell was about two inches in length!  And the wasps were huge!  

  After photographing the wasp nest, I went to tell Son.  He had helped his cousin, Jason, load a trailer.  I wanted Son to be aware of the wasp nest simply because it was so near the pier where he has been doing repairs for the past week.  As I related my story, Jason made a comment that he was glad that he had not found the wasps "the hard way" since he is highly allergic to bee stings!  Oh, my!  So, I gave them specific directions as to where the nest was located so Jason could fully avoid the wasps.  Then...being young men, they decided to take a hike to the pier!  Oh, goodness!  Be careful, Jason!!!!  I guess I had better find out what type of wasp this is and maybe get rid of the nest.  Always something...always something.