Nootka, you've scared the holy sh!t outta me. Lived here my whole life ('cept those 3 years in Ohio) and I've only ever seen the small honey-combed sorts of wasp nests under the eves of houses and junk.
I'm allergic to ground wasps. Found out because I was stung after trying to shove a baseball bat into a hive once. I was really little, and the hive was in the cement of our back porch in Portland, and the bugs kept attacking the dogs. Soooo, I was gonna make 'em stop! Had the whole hive on my butt, but only got stung three times. Swelled up bad... and lately it had developed into a severe phobia. I couldn't sit still around any bees, wasps, yellowjackets, etc except for bumblebees.
And then, along came Nathan, and this year we've had wasps/yellow jackets galore... I've gotten over my phobia. One stung Nathan, and I was done with that BS- I chase them out of the house and sqash them when I can now, even though no one else will.
But a nest like Mona's would have me freaking out big-time... and one like you've described... well, needless to say, I think I'll have nigthmares now!
LOL I didn't think we got things like that here!!
Though I saw some odd ones lately- large black and white beasties. Now those things alarm me- they're massive compared to our nasty little yellow jackets (we call 'em wasps..)! Lemme tell ya, I'd love to find their nests and torch them. I hate them with a passion...
Though I no longer hate honey bees as much. I was actually soooo happy to see the few bumblebees that came to try and eat the rotten fruit on the porch...
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