From a YouTuber in Taiwan
The US government was considering legislation to wipe these out, not sure if Taiwan plans the same. The Department of Agriculture monitors these - they performed DNA analysis on the Giant Hornet populations in Washington state and Vancouver Canada and found that 2 species were âintroducedâ to two areas, about 50 miles apart, and about 1 month apart in 2019 which set off alarms in the government.
Seeing these unprovoked stings increase is concerning.
Yup. This is the asshole that stung me on the neck in August. I was wearing a heavy pack and running was not an option. I tried though and he chased me. I had some diphenhydramine tablets on me and took two right away. Im afraid of the second time this happens. Pills wonât keep away anaphylaxis and Iâm often pretty far away from help. Last time I just crawled into my hammock and slept hoping it would be gone by morning. No such luck. I had a hard lump on my neck for almost two weeks.
Wiping out local species because whatever reason can not be called a good environmental practice. We have to live with them, same as in the US they have to live with Grizzlies.
That hornet is not a âlocalâ species. It came over from Japan.
How and when? Because if the species came here by natural means (i.e. without human intervention), then Taiwan is part of its natural distribution.
This does not mean that I would be happy to have an encounter with it. Well, I have a degree in Biology, so as long as they donât sting me, I would be curious to see one of them.
Walk up into the mountains.
Iâve seen other species, not these monsters.
Bad luck or just lucky?
I donât know, you tell me 
I agree. Just dont tell california that! Haha!!!
Also, dont tell our migrating butterflies that!!
Rarely are they unprovoked. We just dont understand psychology nor ecology and all that very well. Even within our own species we have only a partial part of our mindâs puzzle filled in. Nevermind the fact more and more people are expanding into âwildâ habitat. If a person walked into a texans house at 3am, would them pointing the gun at you and telling you to leave be unprovoked? Not really. Perhaps overly agressive, but not unprovoked. Then add in the fact we can actually fluently communicate with the texans quite easily, we cannot with insects. At worst, its a misunderstanding, at best we are in the wrong. The only caveat would be introduced species, which humans are as well so it becomes the pot calling the kettle black type of situation and thus we become hypocrites fairly quickly.
It might be decent advice to say if you have known allergies to bee stings, not to just go to sleep after a major hornet sting. These guys do mean business, and if you honey worries you, i would be finding a place nearby with a paramedic/firehall nearby.
But again, you entered their house, so we just need to accept respinsibility for our actions.
Next time though. If you arent willing to ditch the backpack and run and get it later, and there is only one⊠Learn to kill them. One swat, they go into full on attack. But they are fairly easy to avoid and kill. Just remember their stingers point down in flight. Smack side to side, not up and down. They are pretty easy to hit with a branch, shirt, even just your handâŠjust smack them from above in a downward motion. Then get stompy and carry on with your hike. A swarm is a different beast.
They murder stuff all day, its the way of the wild. Killing the odd one near your face i feel, is guilt free. Intentionally exterminating a whole species just cause we dont understand and like it makes us genocidal douche bags.
The hornets in the West start dying off in September and man do they get aggressive and angry. You can run and they will chase for over a km and for some reason they liked chasing me
It could have been worse:
Damn man, talk out out of the pot into the frying pan. Jesus!
I wouldnt jump into any many made ponds in parks, universities et either then. Lots of people have intentionally introduced some crazy fish, including piranah. Not sure how well they manage long term, but no one swims in them haha
Piranhas wonât kill you. Itâs another Hollywood myth. They only eat animals bigger than them if theyâre already dead. If you read the article, it seems the poor man drowned because he was unable to swim to shore.
Indeed.
Sharks with lasers are the real danger.
Caught a piranha with a piece of beef while visiting the Orinoco Delta a couple decades ago. The indigenous nomads bathe in the waters there all the time and no problems. Just donât be a carcass and youâll be fine.
But weâre off topic here.
HornetsâŠyeah, them be assholes.
Damn, i was tricked again by a misleading headline.
Goes to show. Hornets kill very few people and tend to get a bad wrap. Like the piranhas.
And they eat non! Although they eat protein. (Correction) They only eat police officer ears.