Wasps 1 Dac 0
 

I admit I didn't see the attack coming today.

There was no problem detected in the area 20 minutes earlier.
Poor recon?

I was straining under 90 pounds of tote box full of goodies as I stacked it higher on the others.
I knew I was mortally hit and the swearing at the little %}^}* made my pain much less:) it always does. You know...

I took a dart to my jugular right behind my left ear.
Inside of 20 seconds my head had a couple of sharp piercing pains directly on each side of my scalp.
I felt a little woozy. Good local swelling. And slight numbness in my neck. Not unlike when my hand falls asleep.

It kind of freaked me out.
I found it hard to swallow for about 10 minutes and my throat was super dry.

I've taken a few elbows by guys who out weigh me by 120lbs and this was pretty similar in feeling to the head.

I never had a reaction like this before and I'm thinking it happened because it was right on my artery.

I lived to tell and concede temporary victory to them. The collective them. Even though I only succumbed to One.

I will be calling on Whiskey Wish for what my plan of attack should be.

I don't like losing. It's my yard dangit.
Do they serve any purpose?
:character0110:

I was on to the phone pdql to my RN girlfriend. :love0025:
She talked me down from the edge.

All this is Karma for razzing Calgary Dave today no doubt :sHa_shakeshout:

last year i opened a garage door not knowing there was a hive attached to the other side of it , 20 or so stings to the head later i escaped . i hate wasps.
i did get to test out my new 20 gauge shotgun on the hive after though.

I have Claritins in all vehicles, bathrooms, kitchen, and both motorcycle bags. I find they help head off the swelling as they mitigate the histamine reaction.

You might want to have some laying around.

Glad you came through it ok.

Good luck in this war Dac. I have located 4 wasp nests on my property this year and have got rid of 2 of the smaller ones. I have a plan for the 3rd but 1 is in an impregnable location.
I also wonder what use they serve. Only species that I will target to kill every time I see one. Hate the little b@$+ard$.
Always have a supply of Beneydryll around just in case.

OH that sucks!! A couple years back my youngest daughter got hit bad climbing a tree at campground, and bailed. Big concussion for her. My answer is pretty simple, we made a video of it on a hike one day (not great quality, but we were thankful for the heavy wind!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkunPR6xfI

Proper recon, flamethrower and it is over.

Wasps and hornets share a common ancestor with ants, by many 10s of millions of years. They are scavengers and carrion eaters as well as predators. they do what they've always done for countless years.

my prefered method of dealing with them is flammable aresols and a bbq lighter.

Does bear spray work on those suckers?
Allways have a supply of allergy meds on hand.

I wonder if a few trillion of those suckers could end all the conflicts overseas? (New weapon of mass surrendering).

Did you take a knee to think things through? Sorry Dac, coulldn't resist!:sHa_sarcasticlol:
Cat

What you need is for me to do a recce. then we can figure out . where to sit up a fire base then plan the attack trace to fight through the objective .

They dont serve any identifyable purpose except for a squashed mess with wings stickin out of it.

It might be added that many species are predators of agricultural pests; and that many others are important pollinators. Besides that, the diversity in wasps and hornets is amazing. They're beautiful.

Don't get me wrong -- I've been stung numerous times over the years and if I had a nest in my yard (in a place that I needed to access regularly) I'd get rid of it; but I do think they're under-appreciated.

Wasp nest
 

After 2nd thought I should have mentioned one thing that wasps are good for. They do leave behind some very impressive nests that show some amassing constuction abilities. I have about a dozen in good shape that I find ornamental.
Also when out hunting I like to find a small one to keep in truck as a good luck charm.

There are also parasitic species as well. I do agree they're under appreciated despite being annoying painful pests.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9...t89mo1_400.jpg
I'm glad we dont get them that big.

Could be allergies to the bite. That's exactly what happens to me and after comes the shot in the butt from the epi-pen and a trip to the hospital for an intravenous...no fun!

I like brakleen for getting rid of nests. It seems to drop them immediately and if you spray the entrance of the nest they fall to the ground unable to fly away. Worked wonders for a group that was building a nest in the crack of the shed. Just gave it an extra spray every 30 seconds to keep things fresh and never got stung once.

With the straw you can spray a fairly impressive distance as well.

That is some great father daughter bonding time right there TC.

You can come over and poke the hive and we will see who can move quicker :)

The neck is actually still a little tender today.
I must be getting soft in my middle age, as I've never had a reaction in the past.

Is it all down hill at 43?

Well there's no Carrion for them to eat around here and all the blossoms have been here and gone.
No livestock in town. It's sherwood park and we have bylaws...

No. They are on borrowed time.

I've watched black hornets hovering over the grass and grabbing mosquitoes which flew up. I have also watched them and yellowjackets plucking aphids off the apple trees. Of course, they will also eat an applewhen they are ripe. Although they often seem to have a malevolent demeanor, they seem to be not all bad. Just like most other things.
Nonetheless, when I see a nest in the shop, it gets sprayed. Leeper

There are primarily two stinging wasps here that I know of. Yellow Jackets and the Black Hornets. The Yellow Jackets are most common and largely more aggressive, but both should be killed unless you are some kind of masochistic PETA type.

Both are predatory meat eaters that while they'll eat dead stuff, they seek out and kill anything they can, primarily insects. But, they don't differentiate between the good or the bad ones.

They are simply a pest that can kill a human but most human's aren't at risk of sever reaction when stung. **If your kids haven't been stung before be prepared with the proper antihistamines and monitor the situation. They can be fatal for some people.**

Be aware and watch them if you seem to have a lot. You will locate the nest eventually. When you do wait till dark when they are all inside and inactive then soak nest with "Wasp Blaster" or the like from Canadian Tire or wherever. Try to spray into the nest opening if you can. Done for that one but there could be others. Usually is somewhere.

Some years are worse than others. Nasty things that should be eradicated IMO. The extent to which they pollinate is limited if at all and can be left to the more gentle and more abundant pollinators.

:sHa_sarcasticlol: uh, nope think I'll pass on the offer!!:)
Cat

Sorry about your luck Dac, but excellent narrative skills. Very entertaining story, I hope you get one up on them!

Adding to what I said above, I once had a little fun with a black hornets nest about the size of a bit larger than a football hanging from a tree close to the house 15 feet in the air. Couldn't reach it with spray so the only alternative was of course, a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 71/2 shot point black. Blew it to smithereens with a chuckle. Felt no remorse as I hate those things as interesting as some may think they may be. HA.......:)

No dilemma for me. Simple. Grandkids or wasps. Buh bye wasps and time day or night. I love the smell of wasp spray.

Brake cleaner works well to get rid of a hive. Hairspray and a lighter is my second choice. We had a hive of wasps in the outhouse at the cabin, smells like burnt honey now.

Just had a battle with Wasps and they were defeated.

Wife left a couch outside. Went to cut the grass, moved it out of the way and they went crazy. Went inside put on my motorcycle gear, and a can of brake cleaner. Hooked the couch up with recovery straps and pulled it to the front of the house with the Jeep. Found their nest and soaked it.

Need to go back out and finish cutting the grass but they look pretty angry out there. Gonna give them sometisome time to calm down. Never been stung and trying to keep it that way.

You sure it was a wasp? I think a hornet's sting is more intense.

Dry year.. August and September will be worse.

If you can't beat the wasps, and there's nothing for them to eat..... put out a plate of honey infused with 190 proof whiskey. Keep 'em drunk. A drunk wasp is a happy wasp. :oregonian_winesmile

Or put a few wasp traps around the yard and garage.

http://tipnut.com/wasp-trap/

I have found that mothballs (the old ones with napthalene) in a jar helps to keep them out of buildings but I am not sure if the new formulation in mothballs works.
WD40 works well to kill them and if you are fast enough you can knock them right out of the air (not recommended).
Soaking the nest with WD40 will get rid of them and supposedly if you leave the nest intact other wasps will not build another nest around it.
I also learned the hard way and now I check out the garage and my sheds really carefully before I get doing too much inside them.
With the dry conditions they will also build underground nests which are tough to deal with.

Definitely got better at aiming with a can of brake cleaner today. Knocked 2 out that were coming straight at me.