1Comment
Has science found the fossilized remains of an Ent from Middle-Earth or the spirit of nature incarnate? Well, not quite. Actually, not at all. This strange sight is, in fact, the remnants of a hornet wasp nest.
As for the creepy face, "CountBubs" posted the image on Reddit a couple of years ago, explaining that the hornet's nest had fused to a wooden mask, purely by chance. "The nest was found in an old shed we don't use much anymore in the backyard and it is still there today," CountBubs told IFLScience.
Luckily the nest was abandoned, as most species tend to use their nests for just one season, after which their worker populations perish in winter and their fertilized female overlords shelter until the spring.
Hornets build communal nests by chewing wood to make a homemade cement made up of their saliva and wood pulp. While they are usually not quite this creative, the nests are often huge structures around the size of a basketball, with one of the largest known examples being bigger than a refrigerator.
Nature, man.
Courtesy of CountBubs via Reddit
