Stung by a Yellowjacket

“I was doing some work in my front yard, when I felt what seemed to be a sharp, but mild electrical shock on the back of my arm. I looked at my arm and there was a frickin' yellowjacket biting me - ow! I flicked him off and squished him. The nerve of that critter! Today I have two itchy spots on my arm - guess he got me twice. So much for the old theory to "just leave them alone and they won't bother you."”

“Your mistake was doing "work" on a football Sunday!”

“How's the rainfall in your neck of the woods?”

“Hasn't rained since March - why?”

“Hah! The Lions were in town to play the Raiders about 2 miles from my house. My father-in-law is visiting from the Detroit area, so was pleased that the Lions won - we had the game on TV in the closing minutes as the Raiders' rally fizzled....”

“Dry/drought conditions, especially following a mild winter(?), makes for very aggressive wasps. Overpopulated with limited resources.

We had a bad summer where I was serving at an outdoor cafe. Had them on me all the time at brunch. Often in my goatee (van Gogh) whilst my hands were full. never got stung but was very aware of their activity...”

“Yellowjackets don’t follow the Geneva Conventions.”

“Thats why you can kill them in or out of uniform”

“At least he didn't call them "bees". ;-)”

“WASP!




:p”

“LOL...you can buy a "yellow jacket trap" or you can get a bottle of Mellow yellow and leave some in the bottom...they will literally fill it up.”

“I hate those boogers...I have several acres and spend a lot of time working outside. Every year I find myself stung by a swarm of the darn things. I never know when, but I know it's gonna happen.

It hasn't happened this year...YET!!”

“I kind of dislike boogers too, but not to the point of hate.
Just try to "pick in private". ;-)”

“While I was hanging in my newer hammock up on Little Green Mtn in Panthertown (no bug net yet) I was often being buzzed by a bald faced hornet - just one - often to the point of feeling the air movement from its wings - I was not stung but I was worried since I have had a systemic reaction to yellowjackets and the testing following that reaction showed I would probably also react to bald faced hornets. I am however close to two years into a series of shots to desensitize to "mixed vespids" plus having the Epi-pen and assorted other aids handy.”

“On a trip from Massie Gap to Damascus my wife got stung by 3 yellow jackets. I was already in Damascus and I was waiting for her to catch up. When she came out of the woods she was limping a little and her face did not look happy at all. It seems she went to take a "restroom break" when she actually squatted on a nest of yellow jackets.
She will probably kill me for posting this.”

“Nice knowing you.”

“Luckily I was there to suck the poison out”

“[ rimshot ]”

“LOL @ mildbill”

“Luckily I was there to suck the poison out”

Keep dreaming buddy!
last edited: 9/10/07 7:12:03 PM”

“while on the subject, im alergic to bee, wasp, ant, etc stings....so i carry an epi-pen. it stays in the front of my pack all the time...just so yall know”

“My brother-in-law is the same way. If he gets stung by anything he has to get medical attention ASAP.”

“it sucks...last time i got stung, i used the epi-pen, and took some antihistimine...laid down....i seemed ok, but with out the epi-pen.....well who knows...btw as for the pain, a small wad of chewing tobacco, or adolfs meat tenderizer made into a paste helps with the pain and the healing”

“I carry and epi pen any time I take my son hiking. He is extremely alergic to bees/wasps. I had a close call with a yellowjacket nest last August, 2006. I was clearing some land I had just purchased, pulling up an old stump...little did I know that a yellowjacket nest was in the stump. I had my back turned to the stump at the time after tugging on it. I heard a strange noise, like tire treads from an ATV or Jeep on a distant country road. I turned around and saw a cloud of yellowjackets swarming out of the ground. Needless to say I ran like hell down the hill and into the creek. They did not follow. I came back about an hour later. They were mostly gone, but the leather gloves I had left behind on the ground were covered in dead wasps that had stung the gloves to their death. Even the leather loop on my headge clippers had a couple on it. I did a little investigating and found out that late Summer is the worst time to encounter wasps because the males know they will be dying soon and get really aggressive. They are all dead by first freeze, except for the Queen, who moves to a new location and hibernates for the Winter. Good little piece of knowledge...wasps never use the same nest twice. I finished pulling up that stump, and others that Winter.”

“I had to do some work up on the garage roof over the weekend and there was a yellowjacket nest behind the shutter about 2 feet from where I was working. They got a little excited when I first approached but settled down and we co-existed for about 1/2 hour just fine. I was a little nervous about them as I didn't want to end up falling off the roof.”