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New England Met Spring 2023 Banter


Baroclinic Zone
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As I was cruising along today on the tractor I ran over not one , but two underground Yellow jacket nests on the hill on the side of the house . Never have they done this before . Both are within 3-4 feet of each other. Hundreds swarmed out of each one . They are still very little , so I was able to ride away at top speed on tractor without getting stung.. but another month and I’d likely be dead . I am thinking that I’ll head out shortly at dusk and spray them and quickly clean place a large stone over each hole . Sound like a plan?

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17 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

As I was cruising along today on the tractor I ran over not one , but two underground Yellow jacket nests on the hill on the side of the house . Never have they done this before . Both are within 3-4 feet of each other. Hundreds swarmed out of each one . They are still very little , so I was able to ride away at top speed on tractor without getting stung.. but another month and I’d likely be dead . I am thinking that I’ll head out shortly at dusk and spray them and quickly clean place a large stone over each hole . Sound like a plan?

y1gvoQj.jpg

EHf1hz2.jpg

Gas the fuckers. I did two last week

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19 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

As I was cruising along today on the tractor I ran over not one , but two underground Yellow jacket nests on the hill on the side of the house . Never have they done this before . Both are within 3-4 feet of each other. Hundreds swarmed out of each one . They are still very little , so I was able to ride away at top speed on tractor without getting stung.. but another month and I’d likely be dead . I am thinking that I’ll head out shortly at dusk and spray them and quickly clean place a large stone over each hole . Sound like a plan?

y1gvoQj.jpg

EHf1hz2.jpg

They'll just dig around the hole. Grab the chemicals...

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37 minutes ago, Flying MXZ said:

Anyone familiar with the area near Wilton Maine?  Headed there for about a week 8/7-8/13ish.  Looking for outdoors stuff to do.  Not afraid to drive somewhere.  Nearest good seafood/lobster rolls around?

I'll leave it to the Mainers but Wilton seems a bit far from the ocean for lobster rolls etc.  I've only driven through on Rt.2 though.

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49 minutes ago, Flying MXZ said:

Anyone familiar with the area near Wilton Maine?  Headed there for about a week 8/7-8/13ish.  Looking for outdoors stuff to do.  Not afraid to drive somewhere.  Nearest good seafood/lobster rolls around?

That's @tamarack's 'hood.  Some good hiking mountains like Tumbledown.  If looking for lobster rolls, def go to the coast

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16 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

But what if I spray the killer into the holes  and quickly cover?

just spray and run. They’ll be gone in a day or so. I’ve done several ground nests that way. no problemo 

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57 minutes ago, Flying MXZ said:

Anyone familiar with the area near Wilton Maine?  Headed there for about a week 8/7-8/13ish.  Looking for outdoors stuff to do.  Not afraid to drive somewhere.  Nearest good seafood/lobster rolls around?

If you like fishing, There's plenty of lakes/ponds up that way, Lot of hiking to be had as well as has been mentioned, But if you need a seafood fix, You're better off heading anywhere along the Maine coast.

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27 minutes ago, dryslot said:

If you like fishing, There's plenty of lakes/ponds up that way, Lot of hiking to be had as well as has been mentioned, But if you need a seafood fix, You're better off heading anywhere along the Maine coast.

Thanks, sounds good.  Not a fisherman but hiking is up our alley.  Don't mind a drive to the coast for some good seafood.  Thanks again.

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5 minutes ago, Flying MXZ said:

Thanks, sounds good.  Not a fisherman but hiking is up our alley.  Don't mind a drive to the coast for some good seafood.  Thanks again.

Off of RTE 27, 30-45 mins NW you have the Sugarloaf Bigelow range of mountains to hike.

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22 minutes ago, Flying MXZ said:

Thanks, sounds good.  Not a fisherman but hiking is up our alley.  Don't mind a drive to the coast for some good seafood.  Thanks again.

Jeff's area has the bigger mountains, 4,000-footers with up to 3,000 feet altitude gain.  If you would rather not walk up a Sugarloaf ski trail, the Caribou Pond Road west of the 'Loaf is crossed by the AT, offering a more natural route up to Maine's 2nd tallest mountain.  Tumbledown has very heavy use though midweek would likely be okay, gain is 1500-1800 feet, depending on which summit one takes.  One route is very steep, almost cliff-like (so I've been told).  Shorter hikes include 2 different Bald Mountains.  Perkins Bald is on Rt 156 only 7-8 miles from Wilton.  Signage is iffy and parking quite limited.  Altitude gain is a bit over 1,000 feet.  The other Bald, in Oquossoc (part of Rangeley) is an hour's drive, though a quite pretty one with a better chance of seeing moose.  That Bald is reached by Bald Mountain Road, off Rt 4 about 500 feet from that highway dumping into Mooselook Lake.  I've not been up the Perkins Bald but love the one in Oquossuc.  That mountain lies between Mooselook and Rangeley Lakes, has good parking and a big sign (and a vault toilet), and offers 3/4 mile of uphill thru forest followed by 1/2 mile+ of rock scramble.  Some pitches look daunting but 3 years ago my then-5-year-old grandson had no trouble.  Perkins Bald has open rock at the summit, Oquossuc has a 30-foot observation tower made for the lower section of an old firetower.

You can learn more about Bigelow, Tumbledown and Oquossuc Bald at Maine.gov/agencies/Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.  Searching for Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands might get you there more quickly.

We've had wonderful lobster rolls at the seafood place on Rt 2 just east from the center of Farmington, but you might get an even better one at the coast.

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1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Jeff's area has the bigger mountains, 4,000-footers with up to 3,000 feet altitude gain.  If you would rather not walk up a Sugarloaf ski trail, the Caribou Pond Road west of the 'Loaf is crossed by the AT, offering a more natural route up to Maine's 2nd tallest mountain.  Tumbledown has very heavy use though midweek would likely be okay, gain is 1500-1800 feet, depending on which summit one takes.  One route is very steep, almost cliff-like (so I've been told).  Shorter hikes include 2 different Bald Mountains.  Perkins Bald is on Rt 156 only 7-8 miles from Wilton.  Signage is iffy and parking quite limited.  Altitude gain is a bit over 1,000 feet.  The other Bald, in Oquossoc (part of Rangeley) is an hour's drive, though a quite pretty one with a better chance of seeing moose.  That Bald is reached by Bald Mountain Road, off Rt 4 about 500 feet from that highway dumping into Mooselook Lake.  I've not been up the Perkins Bald but love the one in Oquossuc.  That mountain lies between Mooselook and Rangeley Lakes, has good parking and a big sign (and a vault toilet), and offers 3/4 mile of uphill thru forest followed by 1/2 mile+ of rock scramble.  Some pitches look daunting but 3 years ago my then-5-year-old grandson had no trouble.  Perkins Bald has open rock at the summit, Oquossuc has a 30-foot observation tower made for the lower section of an old firetower.

You can learn more about Bigelow, Tumbledown and Oquossuc Bald at Maine.gov/agencies/Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.  Searching for Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands might get you there more quickly.

We've had wonderful lobster rolls at the seafood place on Rt 2 just east from the center of Farmington, but you might get an even better one at the coast.

But sounds like the access road is a mess from all the rain/flash flooding.

Also yes, if you head up from the Loop Trailhead it is quite steep, but the Brook Trail is more gradual. I wouldn't recommend looping it down the to the Loop Trailhead though, because you have to climb down through the ladders and rock cave. Going up is much easier in that stretch I think.

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4 minutes ago, radarman said:

Run an extension cord and use a shop vac on the ground bees .  Thump on the ground to get em to all come out.  No need to pour a bunch of chemicals on the lawn.... oh wait

then what? What do you do with a shop vac full of murder bees?

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2 hours ago, OceanStWx said:

But sounds like the access road is a mess from all the rain/flash flooding.

Also yes, if you head up from the Loop Trailhead it is quite steep, but the Brook Trail is more gradual. I wouldn't recommend looping it down the to the Loop Trailhead though, because you have to climb down through the ladders and rock cave. Going up is much easier in that stretch I think.

Correct.  I'm not sure how passable getting to the main trailhead is, at least without a high-clearance machine.  Franklin County and BPL are working out a split for funding repairs, but there are other roads with higher priority.  Rt 133 is still not a through road from Livermore Falls to Jay.

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4 hours ago, radarman said:

Run an extension cord and use a shop vac on the ground bees .  Thump on the ground to get em to all come out.  No need to pour a bunch of chemicals on the lawn.... oh wait

I did this two summers ago.  I left the vac in the sun for a day to kill them.   Unfortunately it did not eliminate the nest.  There were tons of dead yellow jackets in the shop vac when I opened it.  

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As far as ground wasps and yellow jackets go, we are getting into the season where they are getting active.  I go out and take some time to patiently scout the yard.  I look for flying wasps and then you can pick up their flight pattern and destination pretty quickly.  Saves you a painful experience mowing and possible trip to the ER.   You may not think you are allergic but if you get lit up by a dozen or more stings you are going to swell up and if mildly allergic, that many stings could be a hospital visit. 

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1 hour ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

I did this two summers ago.  I left the vac in the sun for a day to kill them.   Unfortunately it did not eliminate the nest.  There were tons of dead yellow jackets in the shop vac when I opened it.  

Couldn't you put some insecticide in the shop vac so they die when they land in it?

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