Has anybody here other than me encountered these temperamental little sons-a-bitches?
Every year, I mow off some pasture that's in a program to help wildlife (CRP) and I have a few encounters with these mean flying things.
Last summer, I hit a nest, I saw a big grey shape right before the back tire of my tractor went over, I then looked back just as it disappeared under the brush-hog, only to see an explosion of flying angry wasps come after me. It literally was like a cartoon where a cloud off bees chase someone....these s chased me easily 50-60 yards before they "gave up".
As soon as I realized I hit the nest, I killed the power to the mower, jammed the tractor in high gear and hauled ass. For a few feet they hung right with me, then slooooowwwwllly started falling back, but none too fast for my liking.
I got stung in 2006 by a honeybee, by the time I got to the house (30 yards, if even that..) I could barely breathe, was gagging, retching, and getting really dizzy.
I'd really be up shiznit creek with no paddle and leaky boat if a few dozen baldies nailed me, as they sting repeatedly, and half the squadron will attack en masse, also.
I talked one time with an old farmer who had been stung by a pack of 'em...he said the only pain he'd ever experienced that topped that was being burnt when his tank caught fire when he was in WW2. He had scars and scar tissue from his wristsup to his shoulders, and down to his waist, all on the front side.
Anyway, I'm rather allergic to bee stings...my thought is to take a loss on the mowing, and pay someone to do it...or else buy a bigger mower, and use the tractor with the cab on it...
There's not much point to this post, but some of you folks that live in the city think that drive-by's, car-jackings, and gas station robberies are dangerous...well, give me a nut with a gun any day over a nest of 500 extremely pissed off wasps with stingers the size of pencil leads ANY day lol:flip:
links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet
http://www.vespa-crabro.de/baldfaced-hornet/baldfaced.htm
I got into a nest of these lil s when I was 15. Counted 23 sting marks, a couple that flew up my shorts. (luckily they didnt find anything too important) just my inner thighs. But I was sick as a dog for about a week (no exageration) mean lil sumbitchs.
I also cought one at about 70mph on my motorcycle once. almost took me off the bike backwards. still wasnt as bad as the locust I cought to the colar bone riding on the innerstate about 8 yrs ago. man that was like getting hit with a rock. ol
I know what you mean man...since I use to work for (Orkin Pest Control) the days of going out when called about a hornet's nest and destroying them were never fun. LOL Friend :poke: :iagree:
As a child my father knocked a nest down while climbing in a tree. His grandmother undressed him in the shower with the water running, and they found the little buggers in his hair, in his shirt, and in his underwear!
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
We call 'em yellowjackets or wasps here, and when I was a kid I'd been stung so many times by 'em that the stings just started feeling like horsefly bites. I was that kid that always threw rocks at their nests :D Been a long time since I was stung, though, so I imagine it would hurt again. I almost got to test that theory last year when I opened one of my shed's doors and found a basketball-sized nest attached to the other side. As soon as I saw it I ran like a and waited for them to calm down, then emptied an entire can of GM brake cleaner fluid on it :D
i have always found good brake clean to be the best solution!
none of the non-chlorinated shiznit though, that stuff sucks. it will knock em down, but you better step on em while they are out....i had one get back up and he was PISSED :beatyoass:
Brake cleaner is the BEST bug killer! Even better when you light it, but I didn't want to burn my shed down :evilgrin:
I can remember when I worked at the Saturn dealership and a huge-ass dragonfly would fly into the shop. The streams of brake cleaner coming from all the bays made it look like Star-Wars :hick:
I run into them every day at work. they like the hidden areas in meter cans ect. there is one type of meter base that always has them in it. we use some spray made for utility workers that kills EVERYTHING! its crazy stuff.
I'm not scared of very many things at all, but for some reason, when I'm out mowing, and I see the s flying around, I really panic...
Maybe I need to see about getting some of that industrial strength spray stuff. The way that honeybee done to me, I sure as hell don't want stung by anything bigger and more bad-assed. :hick:
I've been stung or bitten by a lot of things.....bees, wasps, fire ants, snakes, lizards, dogs, cats.....
I got stung by an actual hornet one time about 15 years ago....The only thing that even came close to the immediate pain as the fire ants. It was like taking a lit cigarette and putting it out on my skin -- only ten times worse. Luckily the hornet didn't leave a scar like the fire ants did...
Yeah the white face s are no fun. The can get you more than once and they pack a surprising punch. The yellow ones are more common here. They both creep me out. The white ones seem to find me when im on a freaking roof or a ladder. Got one up my shirt one time and had 5 huge welts by the time i got him.
If your that allergic to them id consider keeping an epi-pen around.
around here, we have ....
wasps
(http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/images/mediareleases/061120_wasps_on_larva.jpg)
mud dobbers.
(http://www.chrisdoelle.com/archives/dauber655.jpg)
hornets
(http://www.getridofthings.com/images/hornets-A.jpg)
yellow jackets
(http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues99/Co12251999/Art/yellow-jacket-bee.jpg)
bumble bees (not the chevy kind)
(http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/webimages/0/31000/100/31181_med.jpg)
Horseflies
(http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/01/30701-004-4884AF17.jpg)
and deerflies
(http://www.cirrusimage.com/Flies/deer_fly_Chrysops_5.jpg)
and those are just the ones that fly, not to mention the stupid snakes and spiders that are around here. lol
Didnt know if you guys have them where you are, but they love our hayfields, pastures, and for some reason, my 79 ford pickup. lol
Wasps and yellow jackets are rampant in our junk yards around here! Behind mirrors, headlight buckets, gas filler doors, trunk ledges, you name it. I bought an 87 parts cougar once that had a nest like a catcher's mitt in it. I screamed like a 4 year old girl when I saw it. Same as one time I opened the hood on a mustang I had behind the house. I put the prop rod up and heard a crunch. I had stuck the rod right into a yellow jacket nest! I ran my 300lb (at the time) ass full bore for nearly a half mile before they gave up.
CoogarXR
Yeah, all those are common as dirt here, too. As much of an outdoors person I am, I'm really surprised I've only ever been stung the one time, although a few ordinary mud dobbers and paper wasps have bitten me. I do have an epi-pen now, although I think I'd hate using it as much as I'd hate to be stung. When it comes to needles, bee stingers..etc etc, I'm the world's biggest wimp, lol. But I suppose it beats going into shock, or dying from lack of air from a sting. My Grandfather was really badly allergic, yet my dad isn't at all.
The summer of 2007 I was mowing my dads yard and a nest of what I think were bumblebees was up in the frame of his '72 F-100....here's the thread on THAT unholy experience: http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=19994
the only time in my life ive ever seen a hornet up close was in a package containing a plastic blow out patch access panel(the plastic thing you fill the hole in your wall where your pipes and shutoffs are)
im certain that thing was in there all the way here from china.
yes, it was alive when i got it. all i did was open it up and let it out the 28th floor of the building we were working on. he left quietly.
when i was a lanscaper in newjersey i dont think i ever saw one.
I really like how I had a hornets nest and a paper wasp nest hanging from my back door this spring. Nothing like ducking as you leave the house! I found that just about any solvent stuff works as good as the killer they sell - WD40, Liquid Wrench, that agent orange stuff - all those thin oils get absorbed into their porous bodies and kill them almost instantly.
Speaking of bees and motorcycles, I got a bumble bee in my eye at 40 MPH once. Holy ! I almost lost my eye. Now I know why glasses are required even though helmets are not.
I used my torch. We have alot out here. They attach to every thing. At work they really like our pedistals. I bring my torch with me even if its just gonna be a small thing.
yeah, every time we go junkyarding, I carry spray, and I hold and aim the can before I open any doors hoods etc. My brother made fun of me till the first big one we found, then he was singing a different tune. lol
when i was around 6 or 7 years old i use to ride my bike naked down the ditch and got hit by a nest of them hornets . now i just call all bees the spuppies of satin . i hate them basterds . and i was also in a comma for a week after getting stung by more then 150 wasp. did i mention i hate bees .
yep, anything that flies near me, without being identified as not being of the stinging or biting kind, is assumed to be a hornet untill I find out different. Its kinda sad, I can stand nose to nose with beligerant drunks, bigger than me, ready to throw down and get them out of the bar by any means necessary, but one unidentified flying insect buzzes me and I turn back into a little kid running for his life. lol
I hate bees also. I agree with above, make sure you have that epi pen with you. I really could save your life.
BTW mud dobbers dont sting or bite.
lol they still look too much like a wasp to be trusted. lol
just had a run in with a pack of yellow jackets. im guessing 6-8 of the s, but they came at me after i passed so i didnt get to count em before they started stinging.
i got 4, but not w/o incident. 8 stings on my legs.....
as soon as things settle down a bit out there, im heading to the shed with the brake clean. im pretty sure thats where they are.
Kerosene down the hole, wait 5 minutes, and throw a match in it! lol
My cousin did this once, but with gasoline...
a lot of gasoline...
ever see the movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston?
Remember the pillar of fire in the desert?
Yeah, that's what his mom's garden looked like for about 5 minutes!
And the best part? After the fire went out, the bees were still there and doing fine!
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
I saw one bald faced hornet today when I was washing the car. I'd never seen one before. Holy hell are they big insects. I didn't mess with it :hick:
Now here is a hornet!
Shiny Side Up!
Bill
Sort of...that's a Cicada Killer ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer
From what I've read, away from their nest, they're actually somewhat docile, but I wouldn't take a chance, myself.
What's kinda strange is, from a short distance, a swarm of them resembles a small flock of birds.
Thats actually true, away from there nest they had no instint to attack. Being as there is nothing to really defend. The only thing you have to worry about is if you try to squish it.
Mud dobbers can sting but only the females. Nine times out of ten you will only seen a male which lacks a stinger since its a modified ovipositor(egg laying organ). Males will sometimes attack as they are highly terratorial. But all they really do is fly at your face or try and pull your hair. Anything that might annoy you enough to leave.
I agree 100% with the epi pen thing if you are allergic to them. Personally I have nothing against any kind of insect. I love honeybees and have a blast working with them. Honetly its one of the most releaxing things for me. Even though there are around 10,000 bees fly around you :p.
Peace,
Dan W.
Yes, I know... very common critters here in MD. The males cannot sting. The females can, but they are very docile. I was within a few feet of the one in the picture, and she barely paid any attention to me.
Shiny Side Up!
Bill