GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A giant hornet’s nest hangs near a backyard fence belonging to the Grace family. The threat of it falling and cracking open has kept the family out of the space for months now and they haven’t found a service willing to remove it.

The pale-gray and white nest is about the size of a basketball and looks almost like it could be made out of paper mache.

The hundreds of furry-buzzing bodies that crawl over its surface gave the hidden hive away to Monica Grace after leaves on the host tree fell off this winter.

She reached out to KXAN via ReportIt to raise awareness about her hornet-removal struggles.

The nest is on property owned by the City of Georgetown, according to Williamson Central Appraisal District records.

KXAN.com reached out to the city about this issue, it encouraged any residents dealing with a similar nest to hire a private contractor to remove it.

Grace said she has tried doing just that, but to no avail.

She said that one company declined to perform the removal out of concern of possibly being stung to death.

“I called a wasp specialist and they came out and they just said no. Nobody could do this, because whoever does would probably die,” Grace said.

Tyler Lackey owns Tyler’s Bee Removal Service and has been in his field more than 13 years.

Lackey said it is likely that businesses that declined to perform this service is likely inexperienced.

He said a removal like what Grace would need is an undertaking and should only be done by professionals, and it can be a daunting task to those unfamiliar to performing them.

“You need to actually clip the entire branch and haul it off to a new area that you can place it onto,” Lackey said.

He encouraged homeowners to regularly inspect their properties for signs of wasps, bees and hornets as removing a hive before it is too big can save time and money for homeowners and removers.

Grace said she is still searching for the right contractor to remove her unwanted neighbors. Until then, she is staying out of her backyard out of an abundance of caution.

Since the publication of this story, the City of Georgetown said it will make contact with Grace, investigate the nest, and act as needed to remove it.