What kinds of critters dig up a hornets' nest?

[jennigrey]

Along a fenceline there is a hornets' nest in the ground that has been excavated and eaten. Or mostly, at least. The excavating was performed on both sides of a mesh fence with 2"x4" holes. No way to get under the fence without digging, so the perp must have found its way around the end of the fence, which takes a little bit of smarts.

What kind of critters do this here in the Pacific Northwest? Skunks are the first thing that comes to mind.

[Molly Mckee]

Bears

[moeh1]

Skunks would do it here, don't imagine they are much different on the other coast.

[arnie]

mr skunk my dogs kill a couple everyyear trying to get at the honey bees . but they are good at getting those evil yellow jackets

[patty12]

Originally Posted by jennigrey

Along a fenceline there is a hornets' nest in the ground.

What kind of critters do this here in the Pacific Northwest? Skunks are the first thing that comes to mind.

I think a crazy critter it would have to be crazy to mess with hornets.

[big rockpile]

I'm thinking it was a Skunk with Yellow Jackets. Hornets around here make huge nest on Buildings and in Trees.

big rockpile

[Yvonne's hubby]

Brave ones. very very brave ones!

[jennigrey]

Y'all must be right about them being yellow jackets.

The deed was done not 50 feet from my chicken pen. I don't have that anti-dig flap around the perimeter yet. Skunks are a little on the lazy side, though. They are more about the eggs and the chicks than they are about grown hens. So if it's a skunk, I'm not terribly worried for my chickens. I was trying to figure out what might be behind Door #2.

[jennigrey]

The digging is too precise and narrow to have been a bear. Even a little black. Thank goodness. Because bear wouldn't be out of the question.

[sweetbabyjane]

Here in Georgia, armadillos will dig up and eat yellow jacket nests.

Didn't like them until I found that out firsthand,
SBJ

[highlands]

Our dogs. They'll dig up nests and eat them. They'll sometimes just sit at the entrance and snap up the wasps as they go by. Occasionally I see them get stung and they dance around for a moment and then go back to hunting wasps. I guess they like them like we like hot peppers... Spicy!

-Walter

[ArmyDoc]

1. stupid ones
2. tough ones
3. ones that are both

More seriously, the that came to mind first was a honey badger, followed by a bear.

[mike554]

Had the same thing happen a couple years ago when we had lots of ground hornet nests. Asked a local and he said skunks. He also told me if you put a corncob by a nest they would come and find the nest and dig it up. I tried it and sure enough the next day the nest was dug up.

[Bamacrazy]

Skunks love to dig up yellow jacket nests!

[da_wanderer]

I had a professor tell me that a skunk would come and scratch at the entrance of the research hives and eat all the bees that came out. When they caught it, its tongue was covered with stingers. Skunk would be my guess.

[highlands]

Not all animals and not even all people are allergic to the venom. I get almost no reaction. Other people get a strong reaction. Some people can die from the venom. I suspect that the animals who hunt wasps and bees aren't allergic or are only minimally allergic.

-Walter

[dizzy]

Originally Posted by mike554

Had the same thing happen a couple years ago when we had lots of ground hornet nests. Asked a local and he said skunks. He also told me if you put a corncob by a nest they would come and find the nest and dig it up. I tried it and sure enough the next day the nest was dug up.

That's good to know. If I ever find another nest, I just might try that.

[fishhead]

You might have civits.

[vpapai]

We have yellow jackets as well. Several will bite me and it burns for about 5 minutes. My poor DW gets bit, will be very sore and get a red spot that will bother her for days.

[bigjon]

I've watched a skunk dig one in the back yard.