Yellowjackets do not appreciate having a lawnmower run over their nest

SA-708

Appalachian-American
One of them stung me right on the tip of my right ring finger in order to express his displeasure.
 
funny i would have thought they would. :D

your probably lucky they didnt kill you. in my experience they are far worse than wasp or bumble bees.

hope you ok.
 
I've had past experience with them. Shook the first one off my hand and then took off running, left the lawn mower where it sat. Only got one other sting (left leg) but then several of them managed to get into the house with me. Had to wait until they quit the angry-wasp-mode and went into how-can-I-get-outside-through-this-window-mode before I could kill them.

Waiting until dark before I go back to get the mower and recon the nest site.
 
They can be very nasty. I heard on a radio talk show once that when a yellow jacket stings you it sends out a signal for others to come and possible do the same. I got stung on the neck a few years back while mowing the lawn and damn if another one didn't sting me on the arm. Soon there were several around me. I had to abandoned the mower and run around the yard like a nut case trying to get away from them. My neighbor got a kick out of it. Me, not so much.
 
I got stung by one, while working on a broken train near a station.
Know what my boss said?

"Thank God you weren't a customer?"

Kinda brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?

Steve
 
I was using a Lawn-Boy once to mow down some REALLY high grass, & ran into a nest of 'em...This was before lawnmowers had that asinine handle-release shut off system, I just left it there for a minute, & let the mower & the 2-cycle exhaust cloud do its thing....
 
You're lucky the whole nest didn't come after you...happened to me about 5 or 6 years ago and after "dancing" in pain in the back yard, I ran for the Benadryl (could feel the sting reactions rising in my legs and chest). I was stung probably 30 or 40 times (they were all over my legs). In general, I'm not allergic, but I have heard that the more one is stung, the chance increases for a future allergic reaction. So now, I take great caution...

Now, before I mow the lawn in July or August, I look for two things: 1) Have any skunks dug up a yellowjacket nest in the lawn overnight? OR 2) After close inspection of the yard, do I see ANY yellowjackets rising from the grass?

If I find a nest, I quickly turn it over and bury it with a shovel (been known to flame a nest now and then too). If it's all clear, I mow the lawn.

***

Let's just say that I dealt with the original nest, effectively and to my complete satisfaction. :smoke:
 
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They're always thick around here in the summer. I was clearing off a piece of old porch furniture a few weeks back, and wasn't paying close attention to what I was doing. Got nailed about 10 or 12 times before I could put enough distance between me and them to get clear. Still wound up bringing a couple in the house with me in my shirt.

Kinda hurts.
 
We have the miniature kind around here that sting AND bite...Eeville l'il bestids !And they'll chase you farther than you think...
 
I've been stung by them before, but this one right on the tip of my finger has been the worst. Down to typing with thumb and middle finger with my right hand. Got a new cartridge in the post today but not yet willing to make the swap on the turntable while the hand hurts so much.
 
Nasty business. :thumbsdn: I got it good once when I was around 7 or 8. My older brother & I were exploring an old abandoned shed, & found these guys (or someone like them). I dunno how many times they got us, but it was a LOT, & we were sore for a couple days. Funny, but I just remembered, there were a few boxes there, with vacuum tubes in them. I wish we woulda grabbed those. :D
 
No, they don't appreciate it at all. When I was a boy of ten, I caved in a nest of them by walking on it, and was immediately engulfed. I took off running to a creek bottom which was about an eighth mile away, slowed down right when I got to it, and received the last of my 29 stings slam in the middle of my forehead. I stayed in that cold spring fed hole for a while ( a good long time, till I was sure they weren't after me any longer) and went to the house, where my grandparents rubbed me down with wintergreen alcohol and put bits of chewing tobacco on each sting. I remember it like it was yesterday, and it happened in the summer of 1963.
 
Sorry to hear about your encounter. Glad it was not worse.

I grew up on the farm and getting stung was just part of the summer work.

Baling and putting up hay, mowing pasture ground or what ever they would just come "out of no where" and the rest would be history.

And as a side note, I just watched the movie Swarm the other night...
 
All I can say is that if one of those flies up your shirt when you are 25ft up a ladder with a pressure washer in one hand and the spray wand in the other, things can get interesting.

It didn't know there was such a thing as ladder dancing, but I found out that I am pretty good at it.
 
I LOVE tromping thru the woods-In Oct-April...By then most of the critters that sting, bite, chase, whatever are gone. Right now, w/the high temps & sweltering humidity, an encounter w/a nest of angry yellowjackets might prove fatal. I DON'T wanna find out...
 
I've been stung by them before, but this one right on the tip of my finger has been the worst. Down to typing with thumb and middle finger with my right hand. Got a new cartridge in the post today but not yet willing to make the swap on the turntable while the hand hurts so much.

I got stung right above my right eye. I was diggning a hole and BOOM, one of those feckers shot right out at me. Very painful. My eye damn near shut closed because of the swelling. Nasty buggers those yellowjackets.
 
I HATE insects that sting. I was pulling into a store parking lot one day, opened my car door to get out and a wasp flew in. I left all 4 doors open, had a laptop in the back seat and didn't care. Went in the store, came out, the wasp was gone and the laptop was still there.

I used to clean my Jazzercise center and some mud daubers (might as well be hornets to me) built a nest in the corner near the door outside. I would defend and protect that building against anything except those varmints. I told her owner if one got in - they would have the whole building to themselves, cause I would be OUT of there. Luckily her husband was very kind and got rid of their nest quickly.

We are fighting at least 3 different wasp nests in our back yard now. They keep building nests behind our cable box, thermometer that hangs on the house, in the garage window, etc. HATE THEM!
 
I seem to be lucky enough to find a nest almost every year while mowing. They are spawn of the Devil!:mad:
 
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I know some motorcycle riders know this story:

I was riding home from work when one o' those little bastards ended up in my helmet when I had the visor up. I have no idea why it didn't sting me, but I imagine it was injured during entry.

It's amazing how fast you can slow down and park a motorcycle when something like that is buzzing in your helmet. I remember sliding to a sideways stop on the gravel/dirt on the should, then ripping that helmet off as fast as I could -- and threw the helmet on the ground. Damn those things are _LOUD_ then.

John
 
That reminds me, my dad once told a story of riding a motorcycle and one flew up his sleeve. He said it was like a sewing machine needle all the way up his arm. :eek:
 
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