I was on a job site, walking outdoors, when something small and bright moved near my shoulder. My first reflex was to swat at it; there are no lack of wasps around here. Fortunately I managed to stay my hand when I recognized it—a bright yellow butterfly, exactly the same colour as my yellow safety vest.
It landed on my vest, took off, landed, took off, and kept doing that for about a minute.
"Sorry, butterfly, I'm not a flower," I said to it, standing still next to the reactor.
It landed on me a few more times, then eventually realized I wasn't actually a jackpot of a bright yellow flower, and flew away.
My co-workers probably think I'm crazy. I've rescued a ladybug from one of the tanks in the same plant. As it was walking all over my hand the way ladybugs do, one co-worker asked me why I was talking to a bug.
"I like ladybugs," I said. "They eat the bugs that eat my garden."
We've also rescued a small frog from one of the tanks, and chased another out of its daytime hiding spot inside a short length of 1/2" PVC before using it. On moving an orange road cone, another co-worker commented that he was going to go fishing, after catching some of the explosion of crickets that burst out when the sun hit them.
Despite all that, I don't like it when wasps build nests on my equipment. They're the only ones I'll get out the killing spray for—not because I have something against wasps, only that they can't be building nests on my equipment when people need to be working in that area. They can build their nests somewhere else. Unfortunately, convincing them not to keep rebuilding in the same spot requires that killing spray. I hope after hitting two nests they're getting the idea.
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