Cow killer
I didn’t have the camera handy to capture it, but I saw an absolutely stunning creature scurrying across an empty bed in my poor little half-baked garden. It was red, with black stripes, and resembled nothing so much as a very large, very fuzzy ant. A quick search of whatsthatbug.com — a fascinating and handy Web site for those of us who are curious about our six-legged neighbors — revealed that my visitor was a variety of flightless wasp known as a “Cow killer” because its sting is supposedly painful enough to kill a cow.
Fortunately, I didn’t get crosswise of the critter, so I have no firsthand experience with its stinger. But it was a gorgeous thing, anyhow — a fiery henna red, with deep black stripes. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
On an unrelated note: I am doing a bit of research to try to find out the answers to some of the questions people have been asking about the song “Orion.” When I come up with something solid, I’ll devote a post to it.
Emily
August 2, 2006 at 7:28 pm
We know about cow killers. I used to see them all the time when I was a kid, but hadn’t seen one in nearly 40 years until we moved out here. We saw 3 or 4 of them last year. They are difficult to squash, but I try to if I see one in my garden. I would rather not pick one of them while harvesting. They’re pretty, but I sure don’t want them around for the next 4 or 5 years until the kiddies are old enough to leave them alone. I have absolutely no remorse about it either…so there…your mother is a murderer…
August 2, 2006 at 8:54 pm
We don’t have any kids in our garden, so I try — as far as I can — to handle my bugs with Mrs. Eddy’s line about “all of God’s creatures” being “harmless, useful, indestructible.” It seems to be working well with the mosquitoes … they still bite me, but the bites don’t seem to itch as much or linger as long. And the wasps and hornets have left me alone. The same Principle governs the cow killers, so I’ll let them stay for the time being.
Grubs and tomato worms, however, are a whole ‘nother matter. I haven’t yet reached the point of demonstration at which I can stifle the urge to kill them on sight. Their usefulness is less apparent to me, I guess.
August 3, 2006 at 7:52 am
Emily, don’t you remember - we saw one of those Cow Killers last August on Mom’s porch after I fell in that hole the day of Ollie’s wedding? We were sitting out there with ice on my ankle, and one came wandering up to the porch. The only reason I remember it was because it was big and intimidating yet I decided getting up on my ankle was probably more daunting than watching the bug meander around me. Wasn’t till later that Mom told me they were dangerous.
August 4, 2006 at 11:35 pm
I’d forgotten about that thing at Mom’s. It looked like The Ant from Hell. Big and intimidating, but sort of gorgeous. I guess if you’re a wasp, and you don’t have any wings to carry you out of a tight spot, you’d better be able to sting your way out of trouble. Pretty things, but I wouldn’t want to cross one of ‘em.