Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with nest

Are there dangers in using an uncovered public toilet seat?

matkline — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:18:21 -0800

My friend is shocked to learn I don't make a "nest" when I use a public restroom. Are there any real dangers to sitting on a uncovered toilet seat which has been used by others?

Hello, Starling.

neustile — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:53:54 -0800

Moved into a new place and was awoken the first morning by a starling that had nested in my wall, coming in through an old dryer vent that's no longer in service. I could hear it tweeting and warbling and generally making a huge racket right next to my bed at 6 a.m. I can't fully see all the way down the vent duct. I covered it up after he left (he was watching me from a nearby tree) but am paranoid I've locked some of his egg-children in there. I love birds (when they are not sounding like loose desert spider crabs near my headboard at dawn) and understand starlings are the jerk-asses of the bird family. I found a site (since lost it) that said their breeding period is late summer (I'm in the eastern US at the moment) so does that mean there's no possibility there's eggs down this wall? He tried to get in this morning again but eventually flew away, and I feel bad.

How do I get rid of a bees' nest in the top of a tree?

waldo — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 13:11:58 -0800

At the top of a 50' tree hanging over our house, there is a very large (perhaps 1' by 2') bees' nest. Enough bees live there that it's become quite a problem for us. It is impossible to climb anywhere close to where it is. How can we get it down? We live on 24 acres of forested mountain property -- solutions that might bother the neighbor or potentially injure bystanders are not likely to be a problem here. We're tired of getting stung, and we'd like to be able to sit out on our porch, now that it's spring. I've read up on the actual process of dealing with a nest, it's just reaching it that's the problem here.

Ants ants everywhere!

jdroth — Sun, 11 Apr 2004 19:00:59 -0800

Carpenter ants. My wife and I are finally winning the war against sugar ants (thanks to a wonderful product called Terro which works better than our $300 exterminator did), but now we have a carpenter ant infestation. The nest (main nest? will there be multiple nests?) is located in some rotten 2x6 boards framing our raised beds in the garden. However, their current ant highway leads to a vent under the house. Any of you Mefites have carpenter ant experience? What worked? What didn't? Do we need a professional? If they're foraging under the house, does that mean they've probably already set up a colony there? I hate ants. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them.