When a list is made of the top 5 deadly insects, you find the Asian Giant Hornet (colloquially called the Yak Killer Hornet) on it. In this species, the males are very aggressive, attracted even to the smell of sweat and animals running (according to one source), and kills 30 to 40 people per year just in Japan. A nest will contain around 250. The males grow to over an inch in length, and the queen around 2 inches. And it only takes as few as stings to kill a man, if he doesn't make it to the hospital. The sting's toxin destroys blood cells in large enough quantity that just those 10 stings can shut down a healthy pair of kidneys. These beasts also absolutely love Honeybees, and individually can kill 30 honeybees per minute. (That's European honeybees. Japanese honeybees have a defense.) As few as 50 will completely destroy a hive in just a few hours, and they can fly up to 40km per hour, and as far as 100km in a day. They're also spreading across the world. They've been found in France, and starting a couple of weeks ago, I've been seeing one fairly regularly here in Missouri.
The Asian Giant Hornet only has one natural predator: The Crested, or Oriental Honey Buzzard, which falls into the Kite family of birds. The Crested Honey Buzzard's feathers provide it with a natural armor against the Giant Hornet. Which brings me to the question: Has anyone raised one of these birds, and would they like to feed it it's favorite food: Asian Giant Hornets?
I've been away for a couple of weeks and just returned to so much mail! Much of it is from the awesome u/AppleCritter723 who apparently feels guilt about not writing to me more often! 🤣 I'm still unpacking and have a ton of stuff to organize today but didn't want to delay my thank-you post, so I'm putting everyone in one thank you block below, hope that works:
- u/AppleCritter723 x6 - so much mail!
- Thanks so much for your NASA postcard! I don't know where you get the impression that you're not sending me enough mail - have you not noticed how after I've been away for two weeks, I have SIX cards from you and this is a completely average rate of mail arriving from you?!? I'm the one who is having a hard time keeping up :) You and the equally awesome u/Intrepid-Researcher are the two people who I get the most mail from - if the two of you have not yet mail-met, you should because you're both super kind and awesome!
- Thanks for the duck card from Pi day! Oh man, every card I'm receiving from you triggers some story / memory in my mind that I now will have to write to you about! Also, my girlfriend loooves ducks so I'll have to show her your card when she gets here. We don't normally have Key Lime Pie here but I baked a whole three of them once several years ago for a group of friends! It's annoyingly high in calories because of all of the condensed milk, but I like the zingy taste from the limes! I follow We Rate Dogs (@dog_rates) on Twitter but I didn't know there was a calendar! Such cuties <3
- Thanks for the card with the typewriter picture and the story behind it which connects me and another RAoCer! And you even noticed that you wrote it on the Ides of March!
- Oooh I loved the card with all your details about the board games that you like to play! I don't think I've mentioned this to you but I love board games and we seem to love many of the same ones (I'm looking up the others!). I'll have to write to you about it in detail in future mail. I loved the intricate planet / space decoration, too! <3
- Thanks for the card with the Blueberry Pie recipe! I love blueberries and I love baking so I will try it some time (when my girlfriend is back)!
- Thanks for the LOTR card where you wrote about your dream house! Shame you didn't get to live in it. I think all the LOTR stuff in NZ was temporary at the time (they even tore down all of Hobbiton and turned it back into rolling hills), but because they then realized what a big deal
