Killer Wasps at My House

We've had a bug issue outside our house. Lots and lots and LOTS of these things:

Here's a close-up:

These bugs are super duper scary looking and super duper icky looking. And they're BIG. They actually live in burrows in the ground, up close to the front of our building.

We've had mornings where there were probably 50 of those icky things flying around when I went out for my morning potty! Mom called the condo association and they said that the bugs are cicada killer wasps. They look ferocious, but "supposedly" won't hurt us if we leave them alone.

That doesn't really make Mom feel much better. You see, the bugs don't really bother me, but they really freak Mom out. She's worried, of course, that one of the bugs will "get" me. In her mind, these wasps are more like this:

It's hard to take pictures of our ferocious bugs. Here's me checking them out one morning, though (for as long as Mom would let me, of course, which wasn't very long...).

I've actually had two "run-ins" with the big bugs. Mom nearly had a heart attack both times, too. My first run-in happened when I stepped out onto our stoop one morning and came face to face with a wasp, just hovering on the stoop.

Here's a re-enactment. Just imagine there's a huge bug right by my nose.

The bug and I just stayed right there, having a staring contest. Mom ended up pulling my leash to get me away from it.

The second bug run-in was when Mom and I were coming inside from our evening walk the other night. I was heading up to the door...

...when I was bonked in the head by one of the wasps carrying a cicada! It looked just like this picture (this one came from the internet, though, and not from Mom's camera...).

Yep. The wasp/cicada just bonked me in the forehead, and then it flew off!

The condo people told Mom that the bugs would be disappearing as soon as the cicadas disappeared. Mom's hoping that happens soon...