Thank you, 2020, for being the year of never-ending nightmares!

Anyone else feel like you're standing in the middle of an empty basketball court with a spotlight on you, and an invisible force is just chucking balls at your head? You can't see where the balls are coming from, but you know another one is coming, and all you can do is wait?

That's kind of how 2020 feels to me, so far.

And just in case anyone wasn't feeling quite terrified or stressed out enough, the Universe has decided to add a bit of fun to our lives by way of something that's been affectionately nicknamed the "Murder Hornet!"

YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
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Now, from everything that I have read or seen about these alien-like stuff of nightmares, (and believe me when I tell you I have dug deep into this subject...we're talking dozens of YouTube videos and articles on this sucker) Asian Giant Hornets are usually found, aptly enough, in places like Asia.

That is, until now.

Because we seem to have won a first-class ticket straight to Sucksville, these cuddly little flying balls of wonder have now been discovered in the U.S.

According to a NY Times article from this weekend, last fall, a Beekeeper near Custer, Washington, was checking on one of his hives, only to find the headless bodies of thousands of his bees in piles both inside and outside their hive. If that's not straight out of a horror story (albeit...see what I did there...maybe thousands of bee bodies aren't as outwardly terrifying as people bodies, but it's still pretty creepy) I don't know what is.!?

YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
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"With queens that can grow to two inches long, Asian giant hornets can use mandibles shaped like spiked shark fins to wipe out a honeybee hive in a matter of hours, decapitating the bees and flying away with the thoraxes to feed their young. For larger targets, the hornet’s potent venom and stinger — long enough to puncture a beekeeping suit — make for an excruciating combination that victims have likened to hot metal driving into their skin.

Good Morning America had more on the story, and said the thing entomologists are worried about with these buzzing baddies is that if they don't get a handle on just how many Murder Hornet hives are out there, these anti-bumbles will multiply and destroy everything (bug like) around them, including the incredibly important bees! And we very much need the bees to keep living and fluttering from flower to flower so that they can pollinate stuff so we have have delicious fruits and veggies.

First Coronavirus takes away anything and everything fun --even hugging! Now these freakish flying fiends, who have a reputation of beheading their prey and balling their guts up to take back to feed to their young, are threatening fruit!

I'm just going to go on record right now as saying that I am not sure if I can live in a world without cheese or coffee...just putting that out there, Universe. Please leave cheese and coffee alone!

YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
YouTube: Brave Wilderness, Breaking Trail, Coyote Peterson
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Anyway, back to these flying death demons...not only to do they like to murder other bugs, they really don't play well with people either. In fact, their sting can be pretty tortuous. And since they tend to swarm when they sting, any person caught on their radar is pretty much fated to be a bloated pin-cushion by the time these terrors are done with them.

To prove just how painful and jacked up getting stung by a Murder Hornet can be, Coyote Peterson, Host of the Brave Wilderness show Breaking Trail, took one for the team (why anyone would volunteer to be stung by things is beyond me, but I'm sure his mom is proud) and ended up in gruesome pain after just one prick from this creepy critter.

So far, the reports of the Asian Giant Hornets being seen in the Continental U.S, have only been from the Washington State area and Vancouver.

However, we should note that they apparently love rotten pine roots and live under ground, mostly in holes and tunnels other little rodents have left behind.

Being that we live in the PINE TREE STATE---I'm hoping and praying that the bug good guys can find these bug bad guys and exterminate the threat!

So far, 2020 can suck eggs. But with our luck....on second thought, I'm not even going to speculate. Don't want to jinx it!

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