Warning: always read the manual!

[hubcapsc]

I went outside last night after dark, wearing a "headlight". I wear it
for general purposes after dark, one of which is to locate my cat
when she needs to be brought in manually after dark... she's a
cat and only comes when called if she wants to. She of course
doesn't realize that her eyes light up like torches from my perspective
when I'm wearing the headlight, so I can locate her from 30 or 40
yards away in the dark and walk right up to her.

Last night I was only up the path as far as the Valkyrie shed when I
saw her sitting 20 or 30 feet off into the woods on a stump. I was
standing there talking to her, hoping she'd jump off the stump
and come over to me, since I wasn't going to crash through the
vines and undergrowth after dark to go over there and get her.

I began to hear a buzzing noise. It got louder. It was a whole bunch
of buzzing noises. It's getting a lot louder! It's crashing through
the woods, stripping leaves from the branches as it comes! It's coming
after ME! IT'S A GIANT SWARM OF JAPANESE HORNETS AND IT'S FOCUSED
ON THE LIGHT ON MY HEAD!!!

I ran back to the house way too fast to even think about screaming
like a girl until after I got there and slammed the door.

The cat was on her own, I can't find her without the light and I'm
not going back out there with a light on my head. I opened the door
just a crack and called her a few times and she came back in after
a while.

This morning, Carolyn (the dog, really) found this not far from
where I was attacked by the swarm of Japanese hornets:



It is a $1,000 Autel Robotics drone.

First thing I did was download its manual and figure out how to
take out the SD card out and look at the spy pictures. These
fellers seem to be the "regular operators":



The last three pictures on the drone are these:







I'm pretty sure that last little feller didn't read the manual.

-Mike

[..]

  ; 

[Serk]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess they didn't attach an FAA registration number and/or a phone number to call if it's found either, right?

[psckam]

Nice score!

[carolinarider09]

Over the last few years I have considered purchasing a drone for my personal and fun use. But have not done so.

In my younger years I flew radio control powered and non-powered planes.  And did some model rocketry with Estes devices. 

The reasons I have not purchased one are I'd feel like I was intruding on my neighbors if I flew it off my property (I have eight acres but it would be tempting to look elsewhere I suspect). 

It would be fun to take on the road but its one more thing to pack so.... I'll probably just ....   keep thinking. 

But the array and capabilities of these devices is interesting and maybe concerning. 

[old2soon]

       Sooooooooo my ? is duz you really have those bad azz Japanese killer hornets there in yer neck of the woods?? Curious minds and likea dat!   $1000 bucks and they haven't bothered to track their toy down?   RIDE SAFE.

[Bighead]

It would cost them another  $1000 to get it back and it might be inoperable when they did

[hubcapsc]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess they didn't attach an FAA registration number and/or a phone number to call if it's found either, right?

Ida know. They had a bunch of pictures on it and some videos. I watched it
get launched by the "regular operators" and recognized everything about
where it came from - across the street from the Church. The owners are
the next door neighbors (and probably kin) of several church members.
I gave it back to the next door neighbor at parking-lot-church this
morning.

-Mike

[The emperor has no clothes]

  Great story 

[..]

I had a $100 one that I managed to park about 40 feet up a tree last year.

That curbed my curiosity about drones.

[_Sheffjs_]

Surprised it was found and in a visible area, I suppose it could have been lost deep in the giggle weeds there?  I have a friend on the Norwegian Valkyrie board Per-Arne anyway his skills on these drones is mind blowing. He flys and films the beautiful areas in Norway with his drones. This is what I feel is the best purpose for them. Now back,  you wonder about many drone operators, like why were they flying on your property. When looking at the footage did it look like they were interested in something they should not have been or just having fun?  Having the footage must have been interesting, and did you mention you viewed it to them?  If so I wonder if they might be a tad more careful.   I too would like to get into these drones but not for spying, I suppose I haven't as this area would be boring. 

[Patrick]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

[Jess from VA]

Funny story Mike.  

As far as I know, all bee bugs go to nest and sleep at night (and that's the time to get them, if they need getting), and they never fly around or swarm at night (unless you knock their nest off a tree at night).

But suddenly hearing some unknown thing coming at you in the woods at night, while you're lit up, is probably a good idea to run from.

As the story was unfolding, I was certain you were going to discover that the eyes you thought was your cat, turned out to be a skunk, which you walked right up on.  I got too close to a few skunks and possums at night in my own backyard.  Though the skunk ammonia is a pretty good early warning system.  

One time at night camping, I heard noises worth investigating (with a flashlight), and it turned out to be two bear cubs over behind some big rocks.  We stayed put (and so did the cubs), and I turned the light off, but I was concerned about the mommy bear, who I never saw or heard.  We finally went to bed in the tent, but I didn't do much sleeping (but a lot of listening to night sounds).  

[hubcapsc]

Surprised it was found and in a visible area

It was only feet from where I thought the bees were coming after me. I
don't know if some failsafe on it was "heading to the light", or if it
was just a coincidence that it crashed basically right where I was standing.
I wish I could have actually seen it coming in instead of just hearing
the "many buzzing things" coming towards me through the woods.
The dog's nose probably perceived it over in the tall grass a lot like
we would have perceived it if it had a loudspeaker on it.

Numerous members of the same families have lived in the houses that
line the road the Church is on for generations. There was one nicely
executed video (probably not shot by the teenage son   ) flying up
the creek behind one of the houses where there's been a "swimming
hole" (only children would think that) for years and years. I've been
there once when the Church had a picnic at that house. None of the
videos seemed to be spying on anyone. There's a couple of white
water falls too. The preacher said a drone came over to his house to
see what all the racket was - he's building a new deck/porch on the
back of the Parsonage during the lockdown - maybe I have that video too...

-Mike

[hubcapsc]

Here's the distance the drone traveled to get to me. No idea what path
it took. My guess is the non-manual-reading fellow let it go beyond
the distance his controller could reach and then all bets were off.



Flight Requirements:
• Keep the aircraft in your visual line of sight at all times
• When a warning appears on the app, follow the corresponding instructions
closely
• Make sure you are not drunk, high or suffering from dizziness, fatigue or any
other physical condition that may impair your ability to safely operate the
aircraft

-Mike

[..]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

[Jess from VA]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

Better than drivers.  

It was my time stationed in So CA that I first heard people complaining about DWOs.

What's that?  

Driving while Oriental.

(please keep any racist thoughts to yourself)

Like women driver complaints, it's of course not always true.... but it's often true.  

[Serk]

My DJI Mavic Pro has a failsafe where if it loses connection to the remote it automatically climbs to a set altitude (I have mine set to 400 feet, the maximum legal height for a drone in the US) and returns to the GPS coordinates it took off from, and lands...

I've tested it a few times and it's always come back and landed within a few inches of where it launched from.

Handy feature to have when you've got $1000+ flying around in the air...

[Jess from VA]

I'm glad ex wives don't have that feature. 

Cost about 100 times more than that too. 

I'd have to move.

[Patrick]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

I'm glad all we have to put up with are Bald/White Face.

[..]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

Oops I'm wrong.

Bald faced here in N.E. GA.

I had to deal with one of these last year. Built on the deck rear steps.
http://images.terro.com/is/image/woodstream/ter-insects-bald-faced-hornet-2A

Japanese ones look like they came from Godzilla land.




I'm glad all we have to put up with are Bald/White Face.

[hubcapsc]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

I'm glad all we have to put up with are Bald/White Face.

I'm not qualified to say the taxonomic name of what we do or don't have,
but we definitely have bees that look like this one that are as big as my
thumb anyhow...



A dead blackgum tree fell down by the creek about two years ago. A "honeycomb"
like thing spilled out of the hollowed out top of the tree. I was shocked at how BIG each
hexagonal segment of it was. I intended to bring my camera the next day (daily
dog walk) and get a picture, but something ate the comb during the night.



-Mike

[psckam]

The hornet in the picture appears to be a Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons, germanica or pensylvanica ) . Most likely a queen as the are larger.

[Patrick]

We tend to get a lot of White [bald] Face critters. They are nasty fellas, just going past walking or especially on the mower will really piss them off. They'll come after you with vengeance and it feels like you've been shot with each sting. They do have neat hives and after a good freeze I like to get them and hang them up along with paper wasp nests.

[Serk]

(Just another thing to thank China for I 'spose...)

"The yellow legged critters were accidentally introduced to France from China in 2004 and they have been spreading rapidly throughout Europe and other parts of the world ever since."

https://www.the-sun.com/news/661834/giant-asian-hornets-kill-single-sting-invade-virus-us/

[GiG]

Asian Hornets in South Carolina ?!

Yep and N.E. GA.

I'm glad all we have to put up with are Bald/White Face.

I'm not qualified to say the taxonomic name of what we do or don't have,
but we definitely have bees that look like this one that are as big as my
thumb anyhow...



A dead blackgum tree fell down by the creek about two years ago. A "honeycomb"
like thing spilled out of the hollowed out top of the tree. I was shocked at how BIG each
hexagonal segment of it was. I intended to bring my camera the next day (daily
dog walk) and get a picture, but something ate the comb during the night.



-Mike

That's just one more thing for the perpetually reretiring Sinkhead to whine about when he moves down there...  BEES!  

[old2soon]

(Just another thing to thank China for I 'spose...)

"The yellow legged critters were accidentally introduced to France from China in 2004 and they have been spreading rapidly throughout Europe and other parts of the world ever since."

https://www.the-sun.com/news/661834/giant-asian-hornets-kill-single-sting-invade-virus-us/

410 bird shot maybe? Or a salt load.  Little rat bastid Just LOOKS meaner than-y'all pick somethin. RIDE SAFE.

[..]

 

https://dnyuz.com/2020/05/02/tracking-the-murder-hornet-a-deadly-pest-has-reached-north-america/

[Serk]

And then there's this guy.....

(Jump to around the 11 minute mark if you wanna skip all the build up)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7VMcMJBjD4

[Valkorado]

And then there's this guy.....

(Jump to around the 11 minute mark if you wanna skip all the build up)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7VMcMJBjD4

I was about to call this guy a dumb sh!t,  then I got to thinking he's probably making a pretty penny because of these idiotic antics.

Still,  if the cap fits...   

[Serk]

And then there's this guy.....

(Jump to around the 11 minute mark if you wanna skip all the build up)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7VMcMJBjD4

I was about to call this guy a dumb sh!t,  then I got to thinking he's probably making a pretty penny because of these idiotic antics.

Still,  if the cap fits...