What Animals Attack Yellow Jacket Nests in the Ground? (2024)

FAQs

What Animals Attack Yellow Jacket Nests in the Ground? ›

The bears will also dine on the sweet nectar in there, but they're primarily chunking down the larvae. Skunks will also dig up and eat these nests.

Similarly, rats, weasels and skunks have been known to prey upon yellow jacket nests from time to time. When it comes to the larger mammals, the unrivaled giant of wasp predators is surely the bear.

This also applies to shy skunks, possibly opossums, and even armored armadillos. These creatures also love to dig up yellowjacket nests and eat that precious, precious protein. But, again, on their schedule, not yours. So, you just have to nudge the process along a little.

Small Mammals

Depending where you live, moles, shrews and badgers will also consume yellow jackets in their nests. In the southern states, armadillos have sharp digging claws, long burrowing noses and natural armor that equips them to eat yellow jackets.

Dust insecticides, such as carbaryl or permethrin, can be applied directly into the nest entrance when yellow jackets are less active at night. It's most effective for ground nests, but be sure to follow the product instructions carefully.

A: Armadillos do indeed dig up yellow jacket nests. I don't think they could give 100 percent control, but this is one side benefit from having armadillos in your landscape. Of course, the downside is that an armadillo is none too neat. Excavated nests will look like big divots in your landscape.

Dr. Richard Cooper, Technical Director at Cooper Pest Solutions, added “The nest will be destroyed but the dispersing yellow jackets spread throughout the home, travelling through the walls and finding their way out into the living areas of your home.

As I got closer, I realized that it was the remains of a large yellow jacket nest that either a possum or skunk had decided to dig out to dine on. My money is that this murderous rampage to the yellow jackets was done by our local possum.

Skunks are well known for nocturnal raids on domestic bee hives.

If you currently have a nest on or in wall voids of your property, Burgess recommends immediate action before it is too late. “Typically nests located in wall voids are hard to remove, but we highly recommend it,” he said. “Abandoned nests can become breeding sources for other pests.

What is the best ground nest killer for yellow jackets? ›

For Yellow Jacket Nests that are not located high up and instead are lower to the ground or underground, apply D-Fense Dust. D-Fense Dust is a deltamethrin dust and can successfully kill Yellow Jackets on contact.

Yellow jackets build their homes by chewing wood fiber or drywall into a pulp that they then form into papery nests. This is especially problematic when they are living between two walls, as they may begin to chew through the drywall. Nests are gray or brown with a wavy texture and typically only have one entrance.

Unlike honey bees and other wasps, yellow jackets will dig deep tunnels in the ground, usually one to three feet deep, and carve out huge cavities to expand their nests.

Foraging ground-nesting yellowjacket workers commonly come into contact with people who are eating outdoors and may become extremely aggressive.

Add natural wasp-repellent plants like eucalyptus, spearmint, or thyme around your yard or property. Scare off yellow jackets with a decoy yellow jacket nest; these wasps are unlikely to build a colony on territory that they believe is already taken by another nest.

One of the easiest ways to kill yellowjackets is to identify all entry and exit holes and cover them with glass bowls. This traps the wasps inside the nest and causes them to starve to death.

Rebecca : I looked online, and found that weasels, birds, badgers, and rats will eat wasps as well. A badger would certainly destroy the nest, as would a skunk or a bear.

Starlings, robins, swallows, tanagers, and woodpeckers can cause significant damage to adult bees, bee larvae, and nesting materials. Once these predators recognize the bee nest as a food source, they are relentless.