I went to a festival at the Nagoya Biodiversity Center last Saturday. It was a sunny day, and the place was full of young families with their children. Some environmental groups had living creatures on display. Others had displays of stuffed animals like racoon dogs, Japanese badgers, and weasels. The most surprising thing I saw was a live Asian giant hornet. It was on a piece of banana eating. The volunteer picked it up and showed it to me. “Isn’t it dangerous? Doesn’t it sting?” I asked. He told me that it was a male, and males don’t sting. The females are the dangerous ones. A boy held out his hand, and the volunteer put the hornet on the hand. The boy looked a little scared but happy. But it isn’t easy to tell a male from a female. Stay away from giant hornets in the wild! (147 words)
You can send me a comment or your own story at jaremaga@gmail.com