Mud Daubers, they got me again!!!

[k0ua]

You call them daubers, we call them mud wasps. Yep, we have them here and I hate the little sods. Always plugging up my compressor fittings and any darn thing with a hole in it. I had trouble with my ride-on mower today and knew exactly what it was. It took a good bit of running to clear out the muffler. Must have been a real big nest. I build model planes and often find mud nests inside them. Amazing how far they can poke mud in the tiniest holes. Electric drill bit clears some of them.

I wonder if taking a chunk of wood and drilling some 1/4 (5 to 6mm) to 3/8 (10 mm) sized hole in it and leave them conspicuously laying around would help by giving them something to "daub" in and leaving your tools and equipment alone.

 

[Alien]

I doubt it. The nests they build, if you open them, are filled with small spiders that are a food source for their young. They catch the spiders and paralyze them. The spiders are real dopey when you release them. The poison must preserve them.
I think we just have to live with them.

 

[Dftodd]

And don't forget the hydraulic reservoir air breather hole either. (the little shepherds crook rubber thingy)

I donated an old sock to that cause. Cut a piece off, wrapped the shepherds hook under the seat on my tractor and then clamped it with a hose clamp. It's been 3 years now with out issue.