Very Angry Yellow Jackets
Yesterday, the Ski Boy was engaged in Fall outside cleanup activities. Tyge and I decided to go out to help. Peter assigned us the job of wrapping up the hose on the wooden hot tub deck. The hose was a tangled challenge and I was in the midst of trying work through the knots when I noticed a bit of buzzing. The thought crossed my mind that it was a bit late in the year for flies and then I re-focused on the Gordian knot. Tyge was nosing around on the deck and then in the grass in front of the deck.
I was in the midst of extracting one end of the hose from a particularly big tangle when all at once, my left wrist exploded. I dropped the hose, zipped out into the lawn, yelling, “OW!!!!!”. At the same instant Tygey tri-pod hopped over to Peter, holding his rear foot in the air - we both went down at the same time. The pain in my left wrist bone was unbelievable. I knew that I had been stung or bit. I’ve been stung before by bees but it didn’t feel anything like this. I was worried that I’d been nailed by a spider hiding on the hose. I couldn’t see a stinger on my wrist, just immediate swelling at the source of two different stings/bites. At the same time, Tyge was hopping around - poor Peter, 2/3’s of his team was wiped out on the first series.
I was still trying to figure out what nailed us, when I saw a yellow jacket in the grass. Peter brutally crushed it under his shoe. I admit that I was all for vengeance at that point. Tygey and I staggered inside and upstairs. I immediately started icing his paw and my wrist. The pain was really amazing. Yellow Jacket venom is really impressive - feels like a million tiny lasers tipped with acid. Tygey agreed that it really hurt. I researched appropriate treatment on the internet and gave Tygey a bendadryl. I have issues with benadryl and avoid it unless I’m in a life threatening situation. As the venom moved into my hand, fingers and arm, everything hurt like hell and was swelling, but I wasn’t having any other issues - like breathing, so I just used ice.
In the meantime, Peter was investigating the source of the yellow jackets. He discovered that they constructed a nest under the hot tub. We’ve been out on the deck the entire summer with no problems at all. However, evidently as the temperature drops, yellow jackets get nasty. Well, Tyge and I can attest to that one. Peter grabbed a can of yellow jacket exterminator. But, the directions on the can said to wait until after dark to commit yellow-jacket-acide.
The benadryl really helped Tygey. By bedtime, he didn’t seem to have any discomfort at all in his paw. It took several hours for the pain to calm down in my wrist. Now it’s just swollen and itchy as hell.
And - Peter bombed the yellow jacket nest last night. I admit, I’m usually not in favor of mass murder, but I’m not at all unhappy to see that nest of yellow jackets bite the dust.
The moral of the story? Don’t help with yard work.
Hello. I am 
You know how I feel about bugs…get ‘em! Kill ‘em all!
I wonder what side of the family the wasp allergy comes from… Glad you didn’t react badly enough to have breathing problems.
Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason.