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11/02/2024 11:35:00 am

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Biggest Wasp Nest Ever Found in US had 400,000 Wasps

Yellow Jacket wasp

(Photo : Wikimedia) A camper was turned into a massive wasps' nest containing 400,000 of the insects.

A spectacular ans scary video of what could be the largest wasps' net found in the U.S. has gone viral.

This massive Yellow jacket wasps' nest containing an estimated 400,000 wasps was discovered by Robert McDougal, a local resident of Berkeley, California inside his pop-up camper when he lifted the camper using a forklift.

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Wasps immediately came streaming from the camper after this disturbance. McDougal recalls that for 20 minutes after that, he was filled with terror and was unable to move because of the onslaught of wasps.

McDougal immediately thought the wasps were bees since wasps have similar features to bees. The deadly difference is wasps are more aggressive than bees and can sting more than once. Wasp attacks are generally more dangerous than bee attacks.

Called in to get rid of the insects, Eric McCool, owner of McCool's Wildlife Control & Bee Extractions, entered the camper and upon closer inspection, realized these were actually wasps.

McCool estimates that there were over 400,000 wasps inside that camper. Apparently, the wasps made a nest out of the 70-foot camper and had consumed most of it.

McCool said killing a nest of this magnitude and size is virtually impossible. The wasps' nest housed 37 queens, which McCool removed them by hand wearing protective gear.

McCool's strategy was to tear up the nest by hand while vacuuming the wasps as he entered the camper. Pest control experts suggest he should just burn the whole camper but he said he wanted to do it the old-fashioned way.

McCool describes this experience as being inside a massive wasps' nest, where conditions were hot and stuffy as he felt the wasps buzzing intensely from the outside of his bee suit.

The vacuumed wasps were released into the wild but McCool believes they'll die shortly without a nest and a queen wasp.

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