Hornets on the Rec Path

Thank you to the nice person who put up the sign. 

Someone just alerted Parks & Rec to a hornets stinging people using the Rec Path near Lane Street. Thankfully, someone had put up a warning sign. It didn't take long to find the nest, which is in the first tree to the right of the path, about 15 feet up. 

There they are. I believe these are Bald-Faced Hornets, a type of wasp. I am waiting for sunset, then will blast the nest with a poison. Normally I do not use such poisons, especially near a river, but the risk of a wasp sting to human health is very serious. Besides being quite painful, people can have severe allergic reactions and even die from stings. 

[Update 9:30 pm...just hit the nest with wasp spray. Did not stick around to see the results as the wasps were pouring out of the nest in a rather angry state.]

New Map: Nells Rock Trails

Click to enlarge

Here's a new map for people hiking the trails off of Nells Rock Road, meant to be printed out on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. The blow-up of this section of the Shelton Lakes Greenway allows for more detail and easier reading. This map will be posted on the sheltonconservation.org website under the Trails section in a couple different file formats for easier printing.

What's that Stink?!

Heading up the Blue Trail from Hope Lake to Eklund Garden, you may start to catch a whiff of weird stink when you get to Oak Valley Road.  The stink is emanating from some unusual mushrooms growing in the woodchips next to the Eklund Garden kiosk. 

These look like they are "Stinky Squids,"  one of the Stinkhorn fungi, all of which attract flies to spread their spores. They reportedly do this by trying to smell like "carrion or dung,"  although I didn't think they smelled quite like a dead animal. More like some really horrible perfume. The Stinkhorn family of mushrooms are mostly found in the tropics.