The many uses of cedar fences...

The other day I noticed that the rails in our cedar split-rail fence had little scrapes all over them. The silvery weathered top-layer of wood had been peeled off, leaving the fresh, blond wood underneath exposed. This afternoon I figured out why: the yellow jackets are preparing their nests for the winter. All afternoon they came, landed, chewed off a small strip of the silver surface wood, and then flew off to wherever their nests were located. It was fascinating to watch them. I never really thought about where they got the wood to make their paper before... and I never really thought of yellow jackets as industrious. :)