It’s summer again in Japan which means it’s time for nature’s little nightmares to come pay us a visit. I’m talking of course about the Japanese giant hornet (ōsuzumebachi) a four-by-six-centimeter (1.5 x 2.4 inch) poisonous flying insect which kills a handful of people every year and has a generally bad demeanor.

This is great news for those who enjoy making alcohol out of them, and bad news for those who have encountered them before and probably still require counseling. However, this year, one Twitter using bug enthusiast is showing us to stop worrying and love the deadly bugs by making one their own pet on a string.

The wasp was captured by someone going by the handle of Mikuru625 who first posted a picture of themselves holding a Japanese giant hornet with a string wrapped between its thorax and abdomen. Rather than madly stinging its new owner to death as we would imagine, the hornet seems rather relaxed.

They also provided us with some easy to follow instructions for making your own pet Japanese giant hornet.

A simple way to get a hornet pet Find a hornet.

Hold the hornet on its back with long tweezers, with fine tweezers pull out the stinger and poison sack.

Tie a good piece of string to it.

From this day on you have a pet.

According to Mikuru625’s tweets the hornet was caught in a light insect net from behind while it was picking up some tree sap. Mikuru625 says that the poison sacks and stinger were removed by tweezers. Here’s a picture of the big guy trying to chew through the netting.

It all seems a little easier said than done. The Japanese giant hornet’s stinger is said to be about a quarter inch long which should be easy to find, but I can’t imagine removing a poison sack without killing it or myself in the process.

Nevertheless, Mikuru625 said they accomplished this and began tweeting other photos of their new life together. They also said that the hornet does bite occasionally but it doesn’t really hurt.

Call it a state of disbelief, but I can’t help having a sneaking suspicion that the hornet might actually be dead and is being posed for these photos Weekend at Bernie’s style. The only way to find out is to follow Mikuru625 and see if they ever post a picture of the Japanese giant hornet mid-flight while tied to the string. That should be enough to stop my BS Geiger counter from making clicking noises. Until then we’ll leave it up to you, the reader, to decide if the pet Japanese giant hornet is fact or fiction.

Source: Twitter – @mikuru625 via My Game News Flash (Japanese)

スズメバチをペットにする簡単なやり方 スズメバチを見つける

網で捕まえる

長いピンセットで仰向けに押さえつけ、毛抜きのピンセットで針と毒針を抜く

適当な紐で結びつける

今日からあなたのペット。 pic.twitter.com/PWPdyhhlLz — がっ (@mikuru625) August 7, 2014