Mowing Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later..... and today it was my time

[AchingBack]

A few years ago I was pushing my little grandson in a stroller, down our long road leading to the highway. His mom had taken him down and up our road, many times, pausing in the shade along the way.

On my trip, I paused to check out the choke cherry tree hanging over the road. To my horror, just 15' overhead was a bald-face hornet nest, guards on duty. Ordinarily, had this not been a route of travel, I would have left well enough alone. However, in the back of my mind was a story about an equipment operator who was driving in the 'beeline' on a logging skidder. He wasn't attacked by the hornet, but what happened was this. The hornet had been feeding on a dead rattle snake, and was on its way back to the hive. The skidder operator was in the wrong place at the wrong time when the hornet hit him dead square in the middle of his eyes, stung him, killed him.

I bought a can of stuff that shoots 15' - 20', got into my Tbird with a moon roof, pulled up near the nest, opened the roof and let fire. Next morning, checking the results, I saw the nest was still active. Next evening I repeated the above. Next morning, the nest had soldiers returning from food missions. By this time I was out of the canned stuff and decided to proceed to plan 'B'. I wrapped a rag I sprayed with starting fluid, (ether, as we know it), around my pole pruner, extended far enough to reach the nest. I did this in the day light hours: flick my BIC, hit the rag, quickly ignite nest burn it out and stroll my grandson in peace.

Considering there is some value to these hornets, don't freak out when you see a nest. If possible, leave it alone and the resident will do the same to you.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

. . .I caught a hornet or wasp in my collar a few years ago when I was riding my motorcycle. He nailed me three times before I could reach inside my coat with my bare hand and pull him out... while still riding in a group!

My daughter-in-law was on the back of my motorcycle in the mountains in Arkansas, and she got nailed by a bumblebee inside her thigh area near her crotch.

We pulled over at the next scenic overlook area, which was empty, and we got off the bike. She pulled her pants down to look at the sting.

About that time, a car full of people pulled in.

There we were with her pants pulled down, and both of us staring at her groin area.

They looked at us in disgust and horror, and drove off as quickly as they could. :laughing:

 

[dusty3030]

My daughter-in-law was on the back of my motorcycle in the mountains in Arkansas, and she got nailed by a bumblebee inside her thigh area near her crotch. We pulled over at the next scenic overlook area, which was empty. She pulled her pants down to look at the sting. About that time, a car full of people pulled in. There we were with her pants pulled down. They looked at us in disgust and horror, and drove off as quickly as they could. :laughing:

Bet you made a Baptist cuss that day as they drove off saying "Dam hippies!"

 

[PhysAssist]

When I was a teenager, I had to get some conduit up off the ground for my father. I walked down the conduit and when I stepped off the end I got stung. There had to have been at least ten on my ankles and lower legs. It was over 100 degrees outside, but I got cold chills it hurt so bad. I still fear them.

My father was stung by ground hornets, that look like little honey bees, but they had a huge nest in the ground close to a pine tree. He got stung all over.

Yellow jackets, like any in the wasp family, can sting you multiple times, unlike a bee that only can pop you once. That is not to say a wasp stinger will never lodge in your skin and get pulled out, too. They are closely related to hornets and it feels like it! If you can get some Benadryl in you fast, it will stop the histamine release, or slow it, so you don't get such a bad reaction. But, if you have any trouble breathing, after multiple stings, and don't have an Epi-Pen, best to drop the valor thing and get to an emergency room as your airway may swell to the point of killing you.

I have tried ammonia + powdered meat tenderizer to make a paste, ice, Home Depot sells a BiteMD pen (with benzocaine, camphor and phenol) by Cutter that is an analgesic +antiseptic for bites and stings (works for mosquito bites really well, but never used it on a sting).

I hate that happened to you, as well as the others, now I am looking everywhere while mowing! :shocked:

If you want to be pro-active, buy some generic Zyrtec (generic= cetirizine) and keep it on your rig in the first aid kit (you do have one, don't you??).

Not only does it work significantly more quickly than Benadryl, it is also longer lasting and has a much higher competitiveness for histamine binding sites, meaning that it is more effective not only at stopping the reaction, but even reversing it.

I found out that I had become allergic to yellow jacket stings just a few less than 40 years ago, at age 18, when one flew into my shirt while I was going about 50 on my motorcycle.

It stung me about 4 or 5 times on my left shoulder blade before I could pull over and whip my shirt off over my head. I knew what specific stinging insect it was because it wasstill angrily stinging my shirt when I stomped on it.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, I started to feel an unexplainable sense of something being very very wrong, like some inexplicable doom was heading my way, then I started to itch EVERYwhere from head to toe, then began to turn a bright shade of red, and I swelled everywhere I was already itchy.

Fortunately, my friend responded to my call for help and took me the the nearest ER where they shot me up with epinephrine (adrenaline) and benadryl (remember this was almost 40 years ago) and prescribed me my first adrenaline kit (the precursor to Epi-pen).

My next close encounter withcthe dreaded ground bees wasn't until 2 years ago, while I was showing our excavating contractor where we wanted our barn sited, and found out the unpleasant way that some yellow jackets has also decided they wanted that site, but my epi-kits had all expired long ago, so I took a double dose of zyrtec and some prednisone we keep for emergencies, and that seemed to stop the reaction at a flushed face.

Your mileage may vary.
Thomas

 

[rd_macgregor]

The hornet down the shirt event is not at all fun, except maybe for observers who get to watch the mad slapping and high-speed striptease.

 

[oldpilgrim]

My daughter-in-law was on the back of my motorcycle in the mountains in Arkansas, and she got nailed by a bumblebee inside her thigh area near her crotch.

We pulled over at the next scenic overlook area, which was empty, and we got off the bike. She pulled her pants down to look at the sting.

About that time, a car full of people pulled in.

There we were with her pants pulled down, and both of us staring at her groin area.

They looked at us in disgust and horror, and drove off as quickly as they could. :laughing:

you should have hollered back, "it's ok, she's my daughter in law!"

 

[bumperm]

you should have hollered back, "it's ok, she's my daughter in law!"

Classic.

Reminds me of the time I was cutting down a small evergreen that was planted too close to the house and was attacking the eves. While I was busy putting the chainsaw down, a snake went up my Levi pants leg. I kicked and jumped but the more I shook my leg, the faster the little b%^&$d headed towards a spot I didn't particularly want him to go. Almost terrified by then, I dropped my pants to find the end of a tree limb just inches from my crotch. All them needles pointing in the other direction, that "snake" was movin' :dance1:

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

you should have hollered back, "it's ok, she's my daughter in law!"

That would have REALLY freaked them out. They already thought we were a couple of perverts.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

you should have hollered back, "it's ok, she's my daughter in law!"

That would have REALLY freaked them out. They already thought we were a couple of perverts. :laughing:

 

[j970]

used to bush hog powerline right of way for living, last yellow jacket encounter, cut off tractor jumped off, ran 1/4 mile through woods, 9 stings, 1 to jaw, broke eyeglasses frame slapping them away, 1 last one in shirt stung me on stomach, time to hunt new job