We should have never let grandma outsource her knitting. (Via John Birkett)
The problem with having a spare room in your house is the guests.
A Hampshire exterminator from Longwood Services Pest Control took on the biggest job in his 45 year career on Sunday after being called to tackle a colony that wasps had built in a spare bedroom.
John Birkett told ABC News Today that he "dressed up looking like 'Batman and Robin,'" before going into the room. He was shocked at what he found.
At 3ft wide and 1.5 feet deep, Birkett discovered the biggest nest he had ever seen, built by an estimated 5,000 wasps. They had consumed much of the mattress, bedding and pillows to create their wasp mansion.
"It was like the horror film 'Birds,' but [with] wasps."
And instead of two hours of a lighthearted psychological thriller, it was two hours of spraying and swatting "left, right, and center."
"In that nest, there must have been up to 700 queen wasps," Birkett told The Guardian. "It's amazing that the woman didn't realize she was living with them.."
The homeowner had been living alone in the five bedroom home, and the spare room was on the second floor. She hadn't been in there in months. Her visiting son was the one to discover the nightmare and realized a window had been left open the whole time.
Birkett managed to destroy the whole nest and kill the wasps, although it was a bittersweet victory for him. "It was a work of art and they had worked so hard," he told The Guardian. "But she [the homeowner] looked at it and said, 'No, no, no - you've got to get rid of it.'"
Birkett remained impressed.
"If they did that in three-and-a-half months, that's amazing, isn't it? They're just little things."
Yeah, amazing...
(by Myka Fox)