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darn wasps...

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(@perry-williams)
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Was flagging a line in the thick spruce and apparantly backed into a wasps nest. Heard the buzzing, then the pain, so I spazzed and started running at top speed and got away from them. Was pretty happy that i only got stung twice, but a few minutes later, I realized my machete had torn off my belt (the rivets popped right out).

Oh crap, now I have to back and find my machete. There it was, sitting directly under the wasps nest in the thicket with the nest only 3 feet above the machete. Well it all turned out well. I managed to extract the machete without angering the wasps and now just have to re-rivet it.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 7:43 am
(@andy-bruner)
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I'm sure

it's gone now but there was a bushaxe left in a tree in north Georgia. I hit the tree and the curved part of the blade went around the tree directly into a hornet's nest. If you even touched the handle they would come swarming out. I just bought a new axe and left it there.

Andy

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 8:04 am
(@peter-hughes-davies)
Posts: 218
 

Many moons ago, Harvey and I were coming down from a hill after doing some reconnaissance for a control network near New Liskeard in Northern Ontario. I was about 50' in front and we were both laden with gear. Suddenly, I hear Harvey hooting and flailing and running in my direction followed by a "cloud" of wasps. I stood dead still while he ran past me, followed by some po'ed wasps. At some point with all the flailing he knocked off his glasses and was running "blind" through the woods, he stopped about 100' down and while gasping hollers . . "which way do I go?", just before they catch up with him. I told him to go straight downhill and I'll find you later. We never did find his glasses and for a few days until he got a spare set he would walk around using the binoculars whenever he needed to see something . . good times 😀

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 8:05 am
(@mapman)
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I'm hoping that you don't have any allergic reactions to wasps or bees? Have a couple guys here that carry eppy pens with them just in case. Came in handy a few times this year already.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 9:01 am
(@sergeant-schultz)
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I carry a couple of bottles of liquid Benadryl in the truck in the summer.

I've a friend who never reacted to stings until, at age 60, he got stung on the tongue by a yellow-jacket stealing his beer (the nerve!).

His head blew up so he looked like a tomato & he started gasping for air. Luckily the firehall was 3 doors down & the EMTs were there at the time.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 9:36 am
(@target-locked)
Posts: 652
 

I was a newbie on the instrument many years ago along the edge of a woods. My boss was brushing line through the woods, when he suddenly came running out flailing his arms. He hit a wasp nest.

I was laughing uncontrollably at the sight, which he did not find amusing.

Guess who had to finish brushing line? 🙁

Life Lesson Number 15,125: Know when to laugh with or at boss man.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 9:47 am
(@seymore-bush)
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I heard a story about some guys working in the Fairbanks area who found a hornet nest about the size of a basketball one frosty clear fall morning. Since most hornet nests up there only get to be the size of footballs, one of them decided this grand specimen would look good in his workspace, so he carried it around and threw it in the back of the Suburban when he got a chance.
Well, it was about 12 degrees when that transpired, on it's way to a high of about 45. The windows were closed in the truck, and the sun warmed things up real nice as the day progressed.

Yep. You guessed it. That trophy hornet nest was occupied by a trophy number of hornets, something they discovered about lunchtime when the truck interior had warmed up to about 80.
It was just a good thing for them they were dressed for the cool morning when they opened those truck doors...:party:

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 10:09 am
(@noodles)
Posts: 5912
 

> I'm hoping that you don't have any allergic reactions to wasps or bees? Have a couple guys here that carry eppy pens with them just in case. Came in handy a few times this year already.

<-- Carries mine religiously. I'm deathly allergic to bees, wasps, hell any of those stinging, flying annoyances!! :-O :-@ :bored:

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 2:50 pm
(@williwaw)
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Did the same thing. Found a beautiful hornets nest the size of a basketball one late fall day. Feeling certain they were all froze, I cut the nest down and took it home to hang in my window. Yep. Bad idea, they were just snoozing. Nothing like coming down the stairs in the morning rubbing the sleep from my eyes to find my house filled with somewhat dazed and confused bald faced hornets covering just about every surface of my living room.

Funny thing happened later though. During a big wind storm that window was blown out of it's frame a flew across the room, landing smack dab in the middle of the room, right dead center on top of that hornet nest. Smashed the nest to pulp but saved the window from breaking.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 4:16 pm
(@dave-karoly)
Posts: 12001
 

Only 2 stings?

Yellow jackets will tag you with their chemical so all their friends can find you and join in the stinging party.

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 6:46 pm
(@seymore-bush)
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Silver linings abound! Wind strong enough to qualify as a nominal storm in Palmer usually blows boulders through the house, so you're proof positive that clean livin' really does pay off. B-)

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 8:04 pm
(@a-harris)
Posts: 8761
 

During the mid 70s we were running a new co-op transmission line across a sand dune between bayous east of Jefferson approaching the East bound train tracks and I swiped an 8ft water oak and pierced a hornet nest about the size of a cantaloupe and was able to express the letters OH SH.. of the pharase and was stung under my top lip.

My face swollen to the degree that sleep was the only comfort and drinking chicken soup or other nourisment thru a straw was all that was possible for days.

About a week later an object similar to a pearl came out of the hole made by the stinger.

:'(

 
Posted : 15/08/2013 10:11 pm
(@joe-nathan)
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Y'all need to stay away from South LA, especially the area south of Morgan City. A lot of the O&G well locations are perfect for gigantic wasp nest. I have seen some the size of basketballs and bigger. Realize that we are in a boat. Real tricky trying to survey and not disturb them.

What the facility guys do is get a couple of guys to surround the nest with 3-4 cans of wasp spray each. It usually takes 2-3 tries to kill the nest.

I need to find some pics.

 
Posted : 16/08/2013 6:32 am
(@mapman)
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Was watching on cable one of those moonshine shows. Not that I'm interested in any of that (hiccup) stuff. But those ol boys came up on a nest and poured some shine on it and then just lit it up! Seemed like a good idea.

 
Posted : 16/08/2013 8:55 am