Let's rid the world of yellow jackets!

[TahoeJoe]

Last month up here in Lake Tahoe I was caching with fellow geocacher Tahoeberne when I stirred up a nest of yellow jackets who had built a nest in a squirrel burrow on the trail and I was stung 9 times. I've seen bears, snakes and even a mountain lion when hiking in the mountains but nothing strikes more fear into me than the sight of a yellow jacket flying by. Now that the weather has turned cold, I can geocache with peace of mind knowing that I'm safe until spring arrives next year.

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

 

[This message was edited by TahoeJoe on November 22, 2002 at 05:43 PM.]

[+Mr. Snazz]

Yellow jackets (Vespula species, Vespa species and Dolichovespula species) are considered beneficial around home gardens and commercially grown fruits and vegetables at certain times of the year because they feed abundantly on insect pests such as caterpillars and harmful flies.

[+carivercpl]

You beat me by 8 stings...maybe we should buy a bee keeper suit for us when we go out??? orgo to mexico and get some DDT...

[TahoeJoe]

The western yellow jacket has no benefit to residents and visitors in the Sierras and has sent many people into the ER whom have been allergic to their painful sting. I say destroy all of them ( the yellow jackets, not the people in the ER)!

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[+Mr. Snazz]

Even the western yellow jacket (Vespula pennsylvanica) is a pollinator, and they feed on a lot of soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars and flies (which are harmful to plants).

 

To say that any species should be exterminated is an arrogance that we cannot afford.

[+Ttepee]

I hear ya... it did a number on my son last year. In August we were out caching along the AT in Ct... he was trying to bring me to where he went rock climbing with his camp..as we were walking down the trail we came across a trail map that had been stuck on a tree with a frantic note written on it ..something to the affect of... DON'T WALK DOWN THIS TRAIL THERE IS A VERRRRYYY ANGRY YELLOW JACKET NEST AND THEY WILL GET YOU!!! It was definitely enough to turn me around. So we decided we'd try coming from the top of the rocks and got in the car and drove up the hill. We started heading up the trail and were not more than 50 yds from the car when my son, who was in front of me, turned around and started jumping around hollering. I thought he was goofing around till he made it back to me and I saw the panic in his face and realized what he was hollering. He kept on running passed me with me on his heels. He was pretty lucky with only 3 bites but he didn't feel lucky. After that I saw fear in a fearless 12 year old when we went hiking, it took some of the fun out of it for him I think.

[TahoeJoe]

quote:

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To say that any species should be exterminated is an arrogance that we cannot afford.

---

quote:

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We don'd need stinky metal boxes stinking up the game, let's stick with tupperware, its what works and it doesn't leak at all.

---

You want to rid the world of ammo boxes and I want to rid the world of yellow jackets. I say that makes us even.

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[+pater47]

I dislike yellow jackets too. That's why I ordered the hunter/navy one.

 

Visit the Mississippi Geocaching Forum at

http://pub98.ezboard.com/bgeocachingms

[Cache Canucks]

quote:

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Originally posted by pater47:

"...I dislike yellow jackets too. That's why I ordered the hunter/navy one..."

---

We think alike! When I first saw the title of this thread, exactly the same thing came to mind ! Unfortunately, you beat me to making a wise-a** remark .

[+Mr. Snazz]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TahoeJoe:

You want to rid the world of ammo boxes and I want to rid the world of yellow jackets. I say that makes us even.

---

 

Yeah, but my thread was a joke. Maybe you didn't get it, eh?

[+Team Screamapillar]

So, Western Yellowjackets are a different species than what we have in the East? How are they different? It sounds like they are more aggressive. We see YJ's all the time in the summer. If they are not harrassed or their nest isn't threatened, they don't normally sting people.

 

"Everybody wants to save the world, but nobody wants to help mom with the dishes," -P.J. O'Rourke

[+Sissy-n-CR]

During the Winnsboro Cache Cleanup event I stepped into a nest, but I only got stung 7 times. The stinging isn't the worst of it--the inching for several days, for me, is the kicker. Only just now are the bites fading...

 

This is the second time in my life that I've been attacked. Not fun.

 

I say get rid of the yellow jackets and let honey bees pollinate and other beneficial bugs take care of the other pests.

 

CR

 

[+Planet]

Is that some kind of crack about my avatar!?!?!?

 

And secondly you stole my signature line that I ripped off of some e-mail I got and now I have to go steal of another one even more clever! Boo Hiss. Yellow jacketed people unite!

 

And thirdly, like snazz says, no bees = no flowers, no fruits, no vegetables, no food.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[+Planet]

So there.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.

[BassoonPilot]

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread ... the Monday Night Football jackets ... and then I thought of Lindsay Nelson.

 

I have now proved I'm old.

[+Planet]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BassoonPilot:

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread ... the Monday Night Football jackets ... and then I thought of Lindsay Nelson.

 

I have now proved I'm old.

---

 

Now that you mention it. My cousin's ex used to work for Wide World of Sports and Good Ol' Howie spilled ketchup/catsup on his yellow jacket right before the show one night and they had to scurry to find a dry cleaner. Bet you didn't know that.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.

[+Logscaler and Red]

on opening morning of Deer season. Guess where? Right on the end of the trigger finger!!!! Good thing I did not have to use it. As for itching, The first thing to try is lots of ice right on the sting site ASAP, and then if all else fails, crush some fiddle head fern tops and rub that on the sting site. Usually works for me. Once I slow down from running that is. Hard to pick ferns at warp speed. I would rather do about anything besides getting stung. In fact, I past up the final stop on a multi cache in Spokane, Wa. due to those little yeller ba$tards flying out of the stump the cache was hidden in.

Later, logscaler.

[Lyra]

Hey! The Yellow Jacket is my college mascot! Leave 'em alone!

 

Always wear proper caching safety equipment!

[+Geo-Johnson's]

Even if we got rid of all the yellow jackets, there's about 100 other species waiting to take their place. Last year while hiking with a nephew, he stepped off trail about 3 feet, accidentally kicked a log, and was attacked by a bunch of black wasps....very scary!!

 

Here's a little secret for ya. A few years back, we bought a product called "After Bite" for bee stings and mosquito bites. Paid like $4.00 for this silly little tube. Whenever I used it, it smelled really familiar, but I could't place the scent for some reason. Then one day I got a clue and looked at the ingredients. It was ammonia.........plain old household ammonia. So now I carry a small bottle of what used to be ear drops....i refilled it with household ammonia. Works great! It does sting for a second when you put it on , but it sure stops the itch.........

 

Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners.

[+Planet]

Adolph's meat tenderizer

Vinegar

Aloe

Jewel weed

Benedryl

and in extreme cases of anaphylactic shock, adrenaline.

 

My friend was talking on the phone one day and says to the person on the other end "there is a very strange melon headed person walking up my driveway.....Oh My God it's my husband!" He'd been stung and his head swelled up like a balloon, and he was going to need to get to the hospital very quickly before his tongue got too big to let him breathe. He's ok, but now he carries the bee sting kit.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.

[+Nurse Dave]

I bet we could talk UMC into polinating everything that needs get, then we get rid of the yellow jackets.

 

---Real men cache in shorts.

[TahoeJoe]

Some years the yellow jackets get so bad up here in Lake Tahoe that the authorities close the swimming beaches because of the yellow jacket problem. In late summer the problem is really bad as the yellow jackets are out searching for protein to feed their queen for the winter (the queen is the only one who survives the winter).They are very aggressive at this time and are especially bothersome around anywhere food is present. It takes very little effort to provoke this 2 winged terrorist into attacking you and leaving you on the receiving end of a very painful sting.

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

[+Planet]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TahoeJoe:

Some years the yellow jackets get so bad up here in Lake Tahoe that the authorities close the swimming beaches because of the yellow jacket problem. In late summer the problem is really bad as the yellow jackets are out searching for protein to feed their queen for the winter (the queen is the only one who survives the winter).They are very aggressive at this time and are especially bothersome around anywhere food is present. It takes very little effort to provoke this 2 winged terrorist into attacking you and leaving you on the receiving end of a very painful sting.

 

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

---

 

When I was bartending at the country club they had an outdoor bar with hot dogs and hamburgers. The bees were a real problem. I used to put out a glass of beer for the bees and they all died happy. I guess the beer was strong enough to distract them from the other stuff on the bar, but it worked to keep them away from me.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.

[+infosponge]

I'd rather get rid of the humans than the yellow jackets...we do more damage and are a bigger pain in the a** than they are.

[+Logscaler and Red]

Take a two liter plastic soda bottle, cut the top off just where the taper ends, flip it upside down and put the top back into the bottom, tape or staple the two parts together, pour some beer and a couple chunks of meat - chicken liver works real well - into the bottle and just throw away the whole thing when your done. Bees crawl into it but can not fly back out. Oh, remove the cap also, just incase you did not think of that.

[+Planet]

quote:

---

Originally posted by logscaler:

Take a two liter plastic soda bottle, cut the top off just where the taper ends, flip it upside down and put the top back into the bottom, tape or staple the two parts together, pour some beer and a couple chunks of meat - chicken liver works real well - into the bottle and just throw away the whole thing when your done. Bees crawl into it but can not fly back out. Oh, remove the cap also, just incase you did not think of that.

---

 

But don't go hanging them up and down the trails!

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But Three Lefts Do.

[+manuelcasi]

Benedryl Benedryl Benedryl It was mentioned above however this really helps to "push" the poison thru your body. It really helps with the pain, swelling and itching.. The faster you get it in you after the sting the greater the benefit. I always carry a few in my first aid Kit along with the sting relief tube mentioned above.

 

www.ManuelCasillas.com

[tahoeberne]

If yellow jackets habitated exclusively in agricultural and non-populated areas going about their business of eating worms, flies, etc., then farmers would be happy and so would many others. This is not the case. These opportunistic scavengers constantly invade picnics, schools, and outdoor social events. Those in their way are frequently attacked and stung. In in the Lake Tahoe area the forest service will close beaches due to their unrelenting attacks on people. At our Tahoe schools, and others across the country, several children are stung daily as these critters are attracted to sugared foods and such. Other species of wasps and hornets have no interest in human type foods and typically forage open area in search of insects.

 

Tragically, their rating as a health threat ranks high on the health threat chart: Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people die each year from allergic reactions to their venom, as reported by a Kentuckian entomologist. Compounding the allergic reation potential is fact that yellow jackets, which often frequent manure and sewage areas, pick up bacteria on their stingers and abdomens and inject--like a hypodermic needle--organisms which cause blood poisoning. Add to that there extremely aggressive and dangerous behavior

 

All pest control agencies and businesses rank include the yellow jacket as a major health threat. Yellow jackets will also build nests in homes and chew their way through walls, posing a direct threat to occupants.

 

My personal experiences with 45+ years in the outdoors has resulted in not one bee, hornet, or other-type wasp sting, but I have been mass attacked three times and stung, as well as being attacked and stung two times by a single yellow jacket. Others report similar incidences.

 

The limited beneficial reasons of yellow jackets is far outweighed by these serious outdoor pests, so I support an even more aggressive eradication position when all is considered. Keep the bees, the hornets, and all other wasps, but not yellow jackets.

 

David Berne

[+Mudfrog]

We have an even more despicable species down here. They dont fly after you, but stand in the wrong place for more than 2 seconds and watch out!

And as far as being beneficial in any way, im not so sure. We call em °fire ants°

[+headmj]

When I detect yellow jackets in an area that has a high probability of people attacks I kill them. I have had to instances right on my own property where my wife or a guest was stung for no more of a reason than being in the area. I frequently carry wasp and hornet spray and have dispatched several nests along trails, driveways and other frequently used pathways. I don't believe that their benefit to harm ratio is positive.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

I kill them too.

 

A couple of years ago, I saw my dog cowering and acting very weird. I walked up to him and saw he was covered with about 20 yellowjackets. I brushed them off and later killed the nest which was in my yard. Same thing happened last year - a nest in a different place in my yard. I think my dog is somewhat allergic - he gets quite sick from the stings.

 

My technique is this: Step 1: locate the nest entrance. Step 2: go to the hardware store and buy a can of wasp killer spray. Step 3: when it's well after dark, spray a lot into the nest. End of problem.

 

By the way, I've noticed that a yellowjacket nest will place 1 or 2 as guards at the nest entrance and they will be somewhat awake even late at night.