This post revived from the old site…
Yellow Jackets or Little Yellow Devils
This is something to be careful of while out hiking in the mountains. The Yellow Jacket Wasp build their nest in the ground. The entrance to the nests cannot easily be seen. But believe me if you step on one you will surely know its there.
Not long after I met my wife, now pronounced with an x, we were out hiking in the mountains with her brother. We were coming down the side of a hill when she just started screaming, and took off running down-hill losing clothes as she went. For a minute I didn’t know what was going on. Then we heard her, beeezzzz!!!
Without further hesitation we followed her at a run. When we did catch up to her she was in bra and panties and had been stung seven times. A Yellow Jacket doesn’t have barbs on its stinger so it can just keep on stinging. Since we were coming down the hill single file, her brother, myself with her behind us, we came to the conclusion that her brother and myself stepped on the nest which had them really mad by the time she got there. I felt so bad for her then and still do when I think back on it…
That encounter taught me a valuable lesson. When walking in the woods watch out for the bees. The last run in was only last year. I was hiking and was in brushy ground cover. I came one half step from stepping right down into an open Yellow Jackets nest. The whole top of the nest was visible about 3 inches below ground level in a hole about 18″ round. I shiver to think what would have happened if I had completed that step.
That was the first time I had ever seen the top of a nest exposed like that and assumed is was uncovered by a bear.
I’ve got to add a conversation with a friend. I get a kick out of it every time I think about.
I was talking to this old friend of mine. He’s the mountain man type if ever there were a “type”. Not book smart, illiterate, but he knew the mountains. Anyway, we were talking about bees. He was telling me about a run-in he had with them.
I said,”Did they get after you?”
He said,”Sure did.”
Then I asked,”How’d you get away?”
I’ll never forget this, he says,”I runned from them till they quit runnin for me.”
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