Talking to the animals

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

I thought I would post this, it might save lives.

Animals study our behavior a lot more than we study theirs. Especially, since humans are well known to be the most murderous species on the planet.

As I mentioned before, two kinds of animals lie, predators and prey. They do this by either camouflage or behavior.

Developing the ability to communicate to an animal that you are neither one, is a skill that every person needs to develop. It will save both you and animals from being needlessly harmed or killed.

Here is a demonstration that my father did that will illustrate the technique of petting a nest for of wasps.

In my neck of the woods, the real Yellow Jacket wasps (and these are not friendly creatures) are often found in wild plum thickets. Locating the nest, my father walked to within 10 feet of the nest and then, picked a plum and slowly started to chew it as he stood there.

A half dozen Yellow Jackets flew over and began circling his head. Unfazed, my father turned away from the nest, slowly and calmly waved them away from his face and continued to eat his plum. The Yellow Jackets widened their flight pattern and continued to watch him and act annoyed.

My father, then, moved to the next plum, which was a little closer to the nest, plucked it, turned from the nest and stood there, slowly eating that one. By the third plum, the Yellow Jackets began to see a pattern in his behavior that told them that he was not interested in them, and so they flew back closer to their nest to observe him from there and see if he was lying. (Heaven help him if he is lying).

By the time he was getting close to their nest, because his behavior had never altered, all of the Yellow Jackets were back on their nest, laying low, keeping their eyes on him and waiting for him to pass.

Now, here's the fun part. Since he had been taking about two steps to each new plum, and he was now only one step away from the nest, he took one step, slowly ran the palm of his hand across all of their backs, took the second step and plucked a plum. He turned away from the nest and quietly stood there and ate it. He, then, continued his behavior all the way to safety.

I got it and mastered it but, my poor brother never did. Those Yellow Jackets would unload on him all the way to the pond. He would dive in and go under and they would always be waiting for him to surface for one last good stinging. Making sure that he got THEIR message. Meanwhile, my dad and I would be calmly enjoying our plums (and quietly laughing) Sorry, you just had to be there.

In practical use, this has saved me more times than I can remember. An example:
I was mowing my lawn and as I approached the house, I heard and saw Bumble Bees.
They had built a nest under the house. Oh! Joy!.
The split second I heard them, I turned the mower, never changing speed, and began walking away. Every time I came back around, I got a little closer until I would see them come out, then turn away and keep mowing. I, eventually, was able to mow right next to the entrance to their hive and not get stung. Yippee!

After being here for 30 years, all of the insects have been around us all of their lives. We've acted this way with every encounter we've ever had with them and we don't have problems with them.

We all get along.

My wife goes to see her relatives, who live in a different state, once a year. All of them, and her, too, when she visits them, get stung a lot. Her relatives are always in a constant war with bees and wasps, killing and poisoning them whenever they confront them. Actions do cause reactions.

I like my method a lot better. Thanks, Dad.

[alanjns]

There's a lesson here for us all, a really great story, thanks.

Alan

[Neil Rigby]

Wow! Sounds like that technique works for you, I wonder if anyone else has tried something like this.

I've seen horse whispering which was very impressive.

We have wasp nests quite often in our garden and I've set them off a few time by accident!

Currently we have a Hornets nest – dare I give it a go?!

[clydebirder]

Thats an amazing story, I definately like your way better the biggest problem with most people is; they're totaly out of touch with the natural world and no longer know how to interact with it. It's very sad, some of my most memorable moments have been interaction with some of the planets wonderful creatures.
I used to get called Dr Doolittle at school because animals and birds would take to me, I remeber visiting a wildlife hospital with one of my school teachers and I knelt down in one of the enclosures and a Razorbill shuffled over and fell asleep resting against my thighs. The woman running the centre was amazed as the bird had seemingly always acted panicky when people were there, an absolutely wonderful moment, I was only about 14 years old at the time and I remember it as if it was yesterday

cheers, John

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

Originally Posted by clydebirder

Thats an amazing story, I definately like your way better the biggest problem with most people is; they're totaly out of touch with the natural world and no longer know how to interact with it. It's very sad, some of my most memorable moments have been interaction with some of the planets wonderful creatures.
I used to get called Dr Doolittle at school because animals and birds would take to me, I remeber visiting a wildlife hospital with one of my school teachers and I knelt down in one of the enclosures and a Razorbill shuffled over and fell asleep resting against my thighs. The woman running the centre was amazed as the bird had seemingly always acted panicky when people were there, an absolutely wonderful moment, I was only about 14 years old at the time and I remember it as if it was yesterday

cheers, John

Yes, I'm an animal magnet, too. Most often that's a good thing, sometimes it isn't. They kicked me out of a zoo one day because I was allowing one of their wild wolves to lick my face. Poor things, me and the wolf.

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

Originally Posted by Neil Rigby

Wow! Sounds like that technique works for you, I wonder if anyone else has tried something like this.

I've seen horse whispering which was very impressive.

We have wasp nests quite often in our garden and I've set them off a few time by accident!

Currently we have a Hornets nest – dare I give it a go?!

Last year, I was at my son's house. There was a tree that was leaking sap and hornets were busy enjoying the sap. I demonstrated this technique to them and petted 3 different hornets. My daughter-in-law called me the next day to inform me that my 8 year old grandson had not perfected the technique and described his swollen hand to me with great detail and embellishment. Need I say more.

[clydebirder]

Originally Posted by Neil Rigby

Wow! Sounds like that technique works for you, I wonder if anyone else has tried something like this.

I've seen horse whispering which was very impressive.

We have wasp nests quite often in our garden and I've set them off a few time by accident!

Currently we have a Hornets nest – dare I give it a go?!

I'm not as good with wasps and hornets as I am with other wildlife, during my time as a gardener I was stung countless times by wasps (once 18 times at one sitting when I accidently brushed against the hedge the wasps nest was in while cleaning out a flower bed) and a few times by bees.
In 2004 I was stung by a Hornet in the New Forest and it's an experience I don't wish to repeat any time soon , it was very painful and made the prospect of a wasp sting seem very minor in comparison.

cheers, John

[Roy Neher Wildlife]

Originally Posted by clydebirder

I'm not as good with wasps and hornets as I am with other wildlife, during my time as a gardener I was stung countless times by wasps (once 18 times at one sitting when I accidently brushed against the hedge the wasps nest was in while cleaning out a flower bed) and a few times by bees.
In 2004 I was stung by a Hornet in the New Forest and it's an experience I don't wish to repeat any time soon , it was very painful and made the prospect of a wasp sting seem very minor in comparison.

cheers, John

John, I would think that they gave you a warning and you just didn't notice it. They scare me to death, actually, so, the second I hear buzzing I turn and change directions, slowly take a couple of steps, then look back. It's a matter of keeping a "poker face". I felt sorry for my grandson, I was also petting butterflies, he should have started out with them.

[clydebirder]

Originally Posted by Roy Neher Wildlife

John, I would think that they gave you a warning and you just didn't notice it. They scare me to death, actually, so, the second I hear buzzing I turn and change directions, slowly take a couple of steps, then look back. It's a matter of keeping a "poker face". I felt sorry for my grandson, I was also petting butterflies, he should have started out with them.

They probably did, I was too busy cultivating the ground to notice. I have been close to several wasps nests without any real problems, they do have a habit of letting you know when they aren't happy

[clydebirder]

I have friends who run a local wildlife Recue Trust, they have a male fox (Fergus) and a female badger (Daffy) who are too tame to release back in to the wild and are used to settle down wild animals under rehabilitation. I have had the privilage to interact with them and they accepted me in to their world. They are both wonderful animals, Fergus was very inquisitive and went through each of my trouser pockets and then once he accepted me he started to act the way you would expect a pet dog to act.
I had to wait until Daffy peed on my wellie's (her way of accepting you in to her enclosure) before interacting with her, it was obvious she was a powerful animal and liked to play rough, it was magical

Fergus:


Daffy peeing on my wellies:

Playtime:


The natural world is a wonderful place, John