Sunday, August 19, 2018

Asian hornets, toxic gas and vintage cars.



Evening in the village. A gentleman and his wife park their white van outside the church and unload a variety of hoses and containers from the back. The man and woman, now wearing gas masks, shout muffled and unintelligible things at each other while pushing a corrugated hose high into a chestnut tree.The mayor arrives in his little Renault and chases away some village children who are intrigued by this strange activity.

The Old Farmer wanders out to see what is going on as does Monsieur Bay and two of his colleagues from the retired gendarmes society. They talk to the mayor. The husband and wife team continue to shout at each other while pushing the hose ever higher into the tree. Amidst all this two flatbed trucks arrive. Each has a vintage Mercedes on the back to be delivered to the German billionaire. The drivers circle the war memorial, pause to watch the strange  movements of the gas mask wearing couple and park by the village hall.

It seems there is an Asiatic Hornets nest in the tree. The hornets don't so much eat the local bees as decimate them. They have been known to kill humans. The couple in the white van are professional Asiatic Hornet killers - which must make for a limited social life. At sunset when the insects are dozy they pump the nest full of toxic gas. This explains the hose pipe arrangement - and the gas masks.



Asiatic hornets, cyanide gas, overly inquisitive six year olds and vintage cars. So passes a Saturday evening in a French village where nothing ever happens. Bob and Sophie have mightily enjoyed the show from the safety of the stump seat. As they settle down for the night their tails whack against the tiles on the hallway floor.






13 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

Is th German billionaire collecting more and more vintage Mercedes or does he ferry the same ones back and forth from His homeland?
So glad Bob and Sophie kept safe from the cyanide gas.

Poppy Q said...

Wow what a Saturday night. You would think that hornet killers might take the weekend off.

Angus said...

'The Font' counted 13 when taking Sophie a walk by the billionaires new, air conditioned, multi-storey garage. There were presumably more in the courtyard.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Saturday nights are supposed to be that bit more entertaining than any other nights, is it not so?!! YAM xx

Sheila said...

Good thing their appetite for bees didn't lead the Asiatic Hornets to the hive in your attic. Double trouble.

Angus said...

Angry hornets and hunted bees. That would have been a most unfortunate combination.

Angus said...

Yes, you're right. There again most Saturday nights - even on Sauchiehall St - don't include Cyanide gas !

Angus said...

Guess hornet killing is a 24/7 vocation.

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

The last picture shows Bob and Sophie soaking in the very last rays of the sun, to be stored overnight, and brought forth again at morning light in the form of furry balls of energy!

Hailey and Zaphod and their Lady said...

Bertie and Yamini introduced me to your blog during a recent trip to Scotland. Looking forward to your adventures.

Angus said...

Or, the be more precise, the energy ( in the shape of a large cold wet nose in my ear ) reappears when it's still dark at 5:54 am.

Angus said...

Welcome !

Emm said...

Saturday night fever, indeed! There certainly is a lot going on in a place where nothing ever happens.