Guard rails and wasp nest

[+Dan2099]

Was bailing hay today and a nearby guardrail had a cache I found out, so i decided to grab it cause i was there and as I grabbed for it wasps came busting out...didn't get to sign it so didn't list it as a find but this is the 2nd time this has happened to me on different guardrails...wasps are profiling me. Luckily this time I got away the first time I got stung twice...

[+oxford comma]

wasn't there a wasp attribute?

[knowschad]

Yeah, I've been stung a couple of times while reaching for caches without looking first. Hurts! Glad I'm not allergic. Anybody that is should definitely carry an epi pen at all times while caching... its a very real risk.

[+Dan2099]

wasn't there a wasp attribute?

 

Lol there needs to be...I have had two friends die from bee stings...I'm not Allergic but its made me soooo paranoid.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Dan2099

[+oxford comma]

yikes, that's scary!

[+kunarion]

as I grabbed for it wasps came busting out.

I grabbed a paper wasp nest once. I was searching for a micro under a railing at a gazebo, running my hand along the gap. After pulling out a wasp nest, I decided to go get my mirror instead.

[Ranger Fox]

To avoid surprises like these, I normally look first or employ my DinkyCam™ mkII. This particular picture was taken on 20090709 on the border of Virginia and Kentucky, where a third or more of the guard rails I came across had wasps in them.

 

I'm not allergic, but I don't like needless pain, either. When I was new to caching, bad coordinates put me right at a grave. I placed my GPSr on top of the headstone and lifted some fake flowers from inside a pot. I felt a sharp pain on my hand and I dropped the thing and ran. Apparently, a large wasp nest was attached to the underside of those flowers. It was tended by a dozen and a half wasps, the nest being close to six times that in the photo. Well... unfortunately, my GPSr was still lying atop the headstone. I kept circling around, waiting for the wasps to cool down. Fifteen minutes later, I ended up using a long branch to hook part of the GPSr. Right after I hooked it, I took off again, the GPSr dangling from the branch.

 

Another time, I was stung by a yellow jacket in a park, so I gave up the search. I dropped my pole in surprise, so had to wait until I could retrieve it before leaving. As I walked into the playground, I felt a sting on my other hand and dropped the pole as well. I picked the pole up before I took off. Some mother said to me she was watching what looked to be a small hornet nest and wondered if something like that might happen if someone got near to the tree as they exited the trail (thanks for the warning...). I don't know if that's what that particular nest was, though, because I thought hornets were supposed to swarm. But, anyway, I had some sharp, swelling stings on both my hands after that day. So much for that cache...

 

Ah, fun stories... I have more stories, though, about people with me disturbing things because they don't look than I have of myself being stung. In fact, I think that's about it for times I've been stung.

[Ranger Fox]

I forgot to mention I've also seen one of these in a guard rail, too.

[+Dan2099]

I forgot to mention I've also seen one of these in a guard rail, too.

 

If my wife ever saw that she would never go with me again

[+kunarion]

I forgot to mention I've also seen one of these in a guard rail, too.

 

If my wife ever saw that she would never go with me again

I love finding snakes, but I would not want to reach for a cache and grab a snake.

 

But even Regular caches can have excitement (wasps). I was searching among some boulders on a hill, and in order to not grab a snake, I used my hiking stick to poke around in rock crevices. And stood up into a swarm of yellowjackets -- they were flying all around me. Eventually they calmed down and I left. I have no idea why I wasn't stung, except that I certainly did not move.

Edited June 30, 2012 by kunarion

[Mr.Yuck]

Well props to the OP for calling them Wasp nests, and not bees nest. The common yellow jacket is a wasp, not a bee. Nothing to add, wasp nests are an occupational hazard when fondling guardrails in search of the almighty quick smiley.

[+Dan2099]

Well props to the OP for calling them Wasp nests, and not bees nest. The common yellow jacket is a wasp, not a bee. Nothing to add, wasp nests are an occupational hazard when fondling guardrails in search of the almighty quick smiley.

 

Here in the south we often call them Waspers...Thats what I get for "padding" my numbers though. On the first one I was stung I was able to move it too a safer place and mentioned a warning in my log and alerted the co, the 2nd one however I was unable to do the same thing, which reminds me I should write a note as a warning for the next guy brb lol

Edited June 30, 2012 by Dan2099

[+Chokecherry]

Doing a night cache at one point we were walking toward a stage and my friend ended up kicking a ground nest. I heard the sound of the impact and saw the nest but it was too late to warn him of what had happened. He ended up getting stung. I had just enough time to get away.

[+ChileHead]

There's a real easy solution to avoid this situation ... if the cache coordinates appear to be in a parking lot or the side of a road, keep driving.

[+Chief301]

as I grabbed for it wasps came busting out.

I grabbed a paper wasp nest once. I was searching for a micro under a railing at a gazebo, running my hand along the gap. After pulling out a wasp nest, I decided to go get my mirror instead.

 

Funny, around here some of the old folks call a wasp a "gap". Don't know where the name comes from, probably from Cajun French since most of them grew up speaking it. So yeah, don't put your hands on the gap

 

I haven't been stung yet (not while caching, anyway) but I have disturbed a few and I've put my hands on a paper nest (abandoned) on more than one occasion while feeling around for a cache.

[+6NoisyHikers]

We were staying at a hotel that had a cache in the parking lot. NH#3 and I assumed it was in one of the lampposts so we didn't even bother to turn the GPS on and just walked over to the most "obvious" one. I lifted up the skirt and she looked and said (shrieked): "There's bees under there!" We'd never even though of that as a possibility. Luckily it was early in the morning and the bees - if that is what they were - were still cold and sleepy.

 

Turns out the cache was hanging in a hedge nearby. We made sure to post in our log that the cache was NOT in the lampposts but stinging insects were...

[+GrateBear]

Doing a night cache at one point we were walking toward a stage and my friend ended up kicking a ground nest. I heard the sound of the impact and saw the nest but it was too late to warn him of what had happened. He ended up getting stung. I had just enough time to get away.

That's what friends are for! Just make sure they're slower than you are

[+Chokecherry]

Doing a night cache at one point we were walking toward a stage and my friend ended up kicking a ground nest. I heard the sound of the impact and saw the nest but it was too late to warn him of what had happened. He ended up getting stung. I had just enough time to get away.

That's what friends are for! Just make sure they're slower than you are

 

Out of the three of us he was the only one to get stung and in his frustration threw his great big flash light at the nest (guess who we made go in and retrieve it). I kept well out of the way of that the minute I figured out what happened. We are much more careful now after that incident when it comes to ground nests.

[+Indotguy]

Some species of wasp will also build nest in Red Cedar trees and weeds. Geocaching can be dangerous if you consider all the bees, wasps, snakes, spiders, misc. biting insects, wildlife, splinters, falls, etc. that can be encountered while on the hunt.

[+cerberus1]

Some species of wasp will also build nest in Red Cedar trees and weeds. Geocaching can be dangerous if you consider all the bees, wasps, snakes, spiders, misc. biting insects, wildlife, splinters, falls, etc. that can be encountered while on the hunt.

 

We're usually prepared for wasps & hornets in the (rare) guardrail hide we grab, expecting them to be there and once even went with a can of spray when logs stated they were there in force.

Went out on a simple Earthcache at Ringing Rocks State park, bushwacking a brief way in from another close-by hide. Stepped on a yellow jacket nest and I took 17 hits. Had enough benedryl in the bag to keep going.

We weren't expecting that one, but were prepared.

[+OZ2CPU]

we just spend the last hr digging out a nasty micro bug who was eating its way tru my skin,

my wife is a nurse and dont care much for my cryes when stuff like this is carefully cut out,

offcourse I started to dig it out my self.

last night we sleept in a tent, so that is a good way to get all sorts of bites.

some people say stay away from gard rails, then you see no wasps,

I say you need to quit qeocaching and all other outdoor sports and hobbies

if you are affraight of all the critters and bugs and stuff.

 

offcourse we dont quit or give up.

but it is a VERY bad idea to stick in your hand where you can not see it is safe first.

newer do that !! use a mirror or inspection camera,

we even tried to put in a camera take a picture, pull it out, look on screen,

very funny, but we need to use what got.

Edited July 1, 2012 by OZ2CPU

[+The_Incredibles_]

Actually found a guardrail cache the other day WITH a small wasp nest inches from it.

 

Because guardrail caches are so RARE in our area, I didn't realize what it was until today.

Edited July 1, 2012 by The_Incredibles_

[+hankpixie]

Got stung last week at a guardrail cache in Florida titled Ouch!........how appropriate!!!!

[+Manville Possum]

Although I found my share and owned a few before they were banned by VDOT, they were bad to have wasps. Keep a mirrow in your cache kit.

[+OZ2CPU]

>banned by VDOT

 

please explain more ?

[+Chief301]

>banned by VDOT

 

please explain more ?

 

Manville Possum Hunters lives in the state of Virginia...VDOT is Virginia Department of Transportation, which is the agency which would have jurisdiction and ownership of the roads and bridges in that state. Apparently they didn't agree with the idea of placing caches on bridge guardrails, hence the ban.