Digger Wasp Help Please!! (insect, back yard, animals, dogs)

[turtle_lover]

I have an invasion of digger wasps in my back yard! They are all over! How do I get rid of them??
It is very hard to find their nest as there are holes all over the yard. I also have dogs and need a safe way to get rid of these pests. Thanks!!

[TinaMcG]

I had to look up digger wasps to see what they were. Cicada killer wasps, those gigantic and menacing looking buggers that make their nests underground and appear this time every year.

Believe it or not, they are harmless to people. We field this question on the Master Gardener hotline every summer. Their stingers are too blunt to sting us or our animals. All they do is kill cicadas. So if you decide not to remove the nest (my recommendation), you don't need to worry. I figure if they don't harm us or our pests and don't destroy our gardens, let them be. We have a news in a bed outside our front door, and it can be annoying, but I'm not removing it.

Cicada Killer Wasp and Other Digger Wasps | Iowa Insect Information Notes

[Hemlock140]

Must be a different variety than the diggers we had in CA. We had many people getting stung while sitting watching their kids' soccer games. I had someone go buy a dozen cans of spray, and 3 of us got armed with shovels. While we dug several others sprayed, and that nest turned out to be 3' x 4' and 18" deep. Even without the stinging it could have been a hazard if it caved in.

[cdelena]

I have never really had an issue with the giant cicada killer wasps, they are just scary, but have had severe problems with small ground hornets that nest (around here) in old mole tunnels. I wait until activity is low (sun down) and pour kerosene into the nest to burn them out.