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blincoln | 4 months ago

Maybe you have friendlier wasps in the UK, but the common ones in the US (yellowjackets, mud daubers, etc.) are generally very aggressive, and trying to coexist with them will end badly sooner or later.

I'm vegetarian because of personal ethics. I safely capture and release spiders I find in the house. I use live traps for mice and rats, and release them in the woods. But most wasps here are on my "nip the problem in the bud" list, along with termites, Scotch Broom, and a few other things.

I leave non-aggressive wasps, like Great Golden Diggers, alone.

discuss

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tmerc|4 months ago

In my experience (and wikipedia), mud daubers aren't aggressive. You may have misidentified a species or had an uncommon experience. They prey on spiders so I consider them beneficial. Only real issue with them is that they clog up mechanisms with mud.

knappa|4 months ago

I don't know, but I've never had trouble with mud daubers.

pavel_lishin|4 months ago

What's wrong with Scotch Broom? It looks lovely, and I was thinking of planting some.

chihuahua|4 months ago

It's invasive.

From Wikipedia:

In North America, Scotch broom was frequently planted in gardens, and was later used for erosion control along highway cuts and fills. Scotch broom is slightly toxic and unpalatable to livestock, and its seeds are viable for up to ten years, allowing them to regrow many years later, after extermination of the plant.