Ouch, I got stung...three times!
Okay, I sold my grill! Craig's List is great! I got my asking price for it too, $80. 8-) I am happy. But it took two people to get it. The first couple came out because they wanted to buy it. I was showing it to them, and wouldn't you know, there was a wasp nest under it that I had no idea was there. I reached under the grill for the drip cup and I see from the side of my eye some flying black insects commong towards me, I feel one land on my cheek and then sting me, I stood up and started running. (all this happened in probably less than 2 seconds) As I was running, I still see black insects buzzing around me and I got stung twice on one arm, on the bicept area and on the forearm. I got about 30ft from the grill and the wasps stopped comming after me. The people decided not to buy the grill. I was bummed. I went to Kroger, got some wasp killer...I was pissed...not only did I get stung, those damned wasps cost me a sale. But before going home I stopped by the coffee shop to check my email from Craig's List. There were a ton of emails from people interested in the grill. I called a few, one lady said she was VERY interested and wanted to come out so I gave her directions. I went home then, and sprayed those damn wasps! That felt good. I then had about 5 dead wasps, and a wasp nest on my deck, I just liked to look at their dead bodies, gave me satisfaction. But I swept them off before the lady came. Sorry, not vegan, but you get stung three times...once on the face...and see how vegan YOU feel. No more wasps. The lady came out, liked the grill, she gave me my asking price in cash and it was then a good day.
Sorry such a long story, but that HURT! The sting on my face burned for about 3 hours but then it went away. The stings on my arm, the burning went away quickly, but now there are two large red itchy blotches on my skin. But no red itchy blotch on my face. Not sure why my face reacted so differetnly getting stung than my arms did.
Here is what got me:
http://www.agpix.com/catalog/AGPix_DaWe12/large/AGPix_DaWe12_1079_Lg.jpg
I HATE WASPS!!!!
Ouch! Sounds painful. Since it didn't happen to me, I feel sorry for the wasps.
I love me some bumblebees, though.
You know, now I am starting to feel kind of bad. I mean, I had to kill the wasps, how else was I going to get them off the grill so that I can sell it? And wasps are pretty much worthless. But I took pleasure in killing. Even if they did hurt me they didn't kill me or anyone else. Now I feel kind of guilty. Maybe taking "pleasure" in killing the wasps is too strong of a word, but it made me happy to see them dead and gone, then they couldn't hurt me or anyone else anymore. Well, then again, maybe I am not so evil. I didn't want them to hurt me again or anybody else, or heaven forbid my cats!!! So killing them made sure that they could not hurt anybody anymore, that was the "pleasure" I felt. Does that make me a bad person?
You did reach into their "home". But I agree yellow jackets (that's what those wasps are commonly called around here) don't belong anywhere near human habitation. I'm allergic to their stings. Once when I was a teenage I was walking near our campsite at a lake wearing flip-flops and got bit between my big toe and the one next to it. My foot swelled up to watermelon size. So my DH has the wasp removal duties. I'm afraid what might happen if I get bit that I'm so phobic that I won't go anywhere near one.
Ouch snowqueen, that sucks! I have lots of wasps around my house too, but we manage to co-exist relatively peacefully. It's the fire ants that I kill and then feel guilty about. I hate killing anything, but those bastards mine my yard with their little mounds and the bites sting and itch for days!
Since I dont know anything about 'humane' wasp removal I will just say that I am sorry you got stung and had to kill them.
Should you get stung in the future by a wasp or other insect, even mosquitoes, try a lovely product called Sting Stop. It works so very very well for me!
I know how you feel. I got stung last year during field work. 4 times. Boy did that hurt! They were nesting in the arm of a gate. When I walked up to open the gate they all flew out and attacked me. Since that was our only entrance into the site we had to kill them. Otherwise we would have been stung every time we went to work. I understand they felt I was a threat to them but they were more of a threat to me since I would have gladly left them alone if they would just let me open the gate and walk in!
Actually, I just found out it was four times! I looked at the sting on my tricept, and noticed not one, but two ichy red welts there. So once on the face, three times on the arm. That was fun. Now they are itching like CRAZY!
OW! I am allergic to bee stings and I hate to think what a wasp would do to me. So I'm afraid I'm on your side a bit, here. They scare me to death because I know that a sting means a high fever, welts and my throat closing up! I have a particular fear of the wasps we called "mud daubers" when I was a kid.
Wasp's nests are fascinating to look at if they're unoccupied, though. Those paper sponges! How do they DO that!
You don't know how they make those nests? I have know for a long time. I don't like to touch them because it is a bit gross. They fly around and look for exposed wood. The then chew off some of the wood then fly back to the nest where they chew the wood mixing it with saliva into a wet pulp and then apply it to the nest and form it to the shape that they want. Those are called paper wasps, and those are the aggressive ones, those are the ones I got stung by.
Mud daubers on the other hand do things a little diffrently. They use mud to make their nests, and then lay their eggs, one per cavity, they then fly off to catch a spider. They kill the spider and put it in the cell with the egg. They then close up the cavity, enclosing the dead spider and the egg. The larva feeds on the spider as it develops. Mud daubers are not very aggressive at all. From what I was told by a Missouri Department of Conservation naturalist, you have to practically hold a mud dauber against your skin to make it sting you.
Have you ever seen a cicada killer? You want to be freaked out, see a cicada killer. They look exactly like Yellow Jackets but are 2 inches in length. They don't seem very aggressive, but you see something like that buzzing around you, you run away very quickly! They feed on cicada, and you know how big cicadas are? Yeah, Missourri has some NASTY bugs.
Have you ever seen a cicada killer? You want to be freaked out, see a cicada killer. They look exactly like Yellow Jackets but are 2 inches in length. They don't seem very aggressive, but you see something like that buzzing around you, you run away very quickly! They feed on cicada, and you know how big cicadas are? Yeah, Missourri has some NASTY bugs.
We have those outside my work. They are huge but they never bother me. The just seem to fly real close as if to inspect me or to say "LEAVE!" Sometimes when I go outside there will be 2 or 3 dead (or possibly paralysed. I think they do the same with cicadas that some wasps do with spiders) cicadas around a hole in the dirt and you can see the wasp pulling them under. It's pretty creepy.
Maybe you should talk to them about that bunny stealing kid...get them to take a little tour of the backyard occasionally!
Love it! "Watch-bees!"
Sorry. I slept 3 hrs last night and I'm getting silly.