Death in the Tall Grass

pict

pict

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Jan 7, 2003
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No, we didn't have to deal with a lion.

This week I took my kids out to camp in the bush. I had planned on using a little field of grass with a large rock formation on top of a hill in the cerrado (scrubland). I found the spot and was checking out the rocks when Dan (6)said "Hey dad, what's that?" There was this odd buzzing coming from the grass.

I told him to back away slowly and went down to check it out. I was thinking rattlesanke at first but it turned out to be a large wasp nest in the grass, right where I had planned to set up their tent. We moved uphill to another field.

I later went back and shot a video of it on the way back from my morning water run. When stirred up they swarm out but stay on the nest, any further molestation makes them go into overdrive. I tossed a pea sized pebble at this one to get them to come out. It was calculated risk but I've run into these before.

Death in the Tall Grass

OK, I stole the title, but it seemed to fit. Mac
 
Pict,

Over the years I've come to respect stinging insect nests for the hazard they are.... A while back, members of my family kept getting multiple stings when they walked around our back porch. Investigation found a huge nest of yellow jackets in a bag of newspapers on the porch. I battle with wasp and bee nest formations around the house and out buildings on a regular basis, but these guys were different. Typically, I just wait for evening and spray the nest and the problem is solved, but the yellow jackets apparently post guards outside and they would come after me everytime I approached the nest. I also figured out that because of the way the nest was situated in the bag, I couldn't spray it effectively. I ended up a donning a bee-keepers outfit and going out with a big garbage bag at night, I snuck up the bag, grabbed it and through it into the garbage bag. I was instantly stung through (?) the face netting about 5 times on my face and neck. I was standing there in pain holding a bag that was literally vibrating with bees, screaming at my wife to open the door and duct tape the bag shut... There was a stick in the paper bag that began poking against the interior of the garbage bag, it was like something out of a movie.... I got the bag into trash can and left it alone for a while. My observation is that wasp, hornets and bees vary a lot in temperament and can be a real problem in the right situation.
 
This is not useful info, but my father-in-law (basically) once solved a major wasp attack at a backyard barbeque by pulling out a vaccuum and vaccuuming up all the wasps.

So for real wilderness stuff you could always take a dustbuster.
 
mneedham said:
Over the years I've come to respect stinging insect nests for the hazard they are....
Click to expand...

mneedham, you reminded me of a time a good college buddy/roomate and I were bow hunting. We stopped to take a break and he sat down on an old log; I was leaning on a tree a few feet away. Well, my buddy John started dancing around like he had ants in his pants...it was sooo funning, I couldn't stop laughing. He had sat on a yellow jacket's nest; much worse than ants in the pants! He took off running full bore down the hill I thought he was going to bust his bow. Well, my laughing stopped when they got under my shirt as well. Needless to say we did have a good laugh over cold beers when we got back:D

ROCK6
 
That's a good story mneedham. Certainly wasps vary in both temperment and intelligence. There is these big red wasps at my buddy's farm that can get aggressive, but they are pretty dumb as well. Every once in a while you will accidently hit the post they are situated on and they come out in full force. They are flying at you in this big circular swarm and you are running like a mad man. The key to your survival is to 'deek' them out. You do this by running behind the barn and turning the corner quickly. They will keep flying straight. No joking, it happened twice. Got tagged both times on the initial - oh crap I pissed em off instant though.
 
My brother and I were once hiking on the AT in PA in the rain. We both had ponchos on with the hoods up. I spotted a big rock next to the trail up ahead and we stopped for a break. We didn´t take our packs off, just rested them on the rock behind us. Sitting there suddenly a white faced hornet passed between us from the front. "Wow, that was close!"

A few minutes later another flew between us back to front, then several more...

We both turned around to see a HUGE nest hanging in the laurel a few feet back from the rock. OK, break over, we moved on making good time due to the adrenaline rush. Mac
 
Oh man this reminds me when my uncle in PA had a huge hornets nest in his garden. Man I never felt pain from a sting until I got stung by two of them for just walking by them. I never realized they were there until it was to late. One on my arm and one on my back. Both swelled up and the pain was tremendous.
 
Geez. How do you deal with that hiding in the grass.
 
Fiddleback,

As you walk up to them they swarm out and buzz on the outside of the nest. They sense the vibation. If you back off they calm down and go back inside. Mac
 
Thank God. But when your kids are running around in the fields it must make you seriously worried.
 
They sure can be a nuisance. I remember when I was a kid I stomped right through a ground nest in the ravine behind my house. Needless to say, my buddies and I took off sprinting immediately with only a few stings to show. More recently, I've discovered what a pain it is to paint houses with lots of nests in the eves. I've gotten to be quite a sharp shot with a can or 3 of bee spray. Shoot one side of the house, paint on the other, then come back in an hour and shoot it again!

Biggest nest we've had was about the size of a pineapple out on the pumphouse... for some reason they didn't bother the cows at all.
 
Bees and wasps and hornets and me go a long way back.. I always got into them trying to steal honey throw rocks on a dare or what ever a not so smart boys would do. Twice i went to school with one eye swollen shut and the other barly open... Last time riding a bike i got stung on the hand.. It brought a smile and good memories thinking of my boyhood lol... Yes i know i know im not normal.. Just had a great boyhood...

Sasha
 
I did commercial tree thinning for a summer and I ran into those nests in the thickest woods I've ever seen.In brush up to my waist and with a thinning saw strapped to me trying to get away from 100's of pissed off hornets whose nest I've just cut in half.Good times.
 
I really hates red hornets. but them there little yellow jachets that live in holes in the ground make up for their size in mean. When they sting ya, you get a nice little hole a quarter inch across where your skin rots out. I dorve a pickup over a nest of these and a few came in the truck and stung the crap out of me and my brother, not to good, can't really get away from'em when they are in the cab with ya. Pat
 
Why do they build on the ground? I would imagine all the rain would make it too muddy and keep the nest wet.
 
When I was young, my Dad and I were in the woods behind the house maybe 200 yards from home, our dog, a black lab was with us and he got into a nest of yellow jackets! He was covered with them, he was honestly as yellow as he was black! He naturally brought his problem to us, I was only 7 or so. We took of running, but couldn't out run our dog! Both him and the bees followed us all the way back, we got stung maybe 5 or 6 times, we ended up spraying our dog with first water, but the yellow jackets didn't mind, finally sprayed him with bug spray through the screen door, they didn't give up easily!
 
When iv been felling trees i have had the misfortune of having wasps nests in the trees im cutting. You never see them untill its too late with all the gear you have to wear and the sound of the saw you dont notice them untill your actually getting stung.They can be a big problem especially at the end of summer into early autumn.
Hornets are really really bad but thankfully not as common. I disturbed a nest once when spraying a young stand of trees and i was chased for about 1/2 a mile and stung a good 6 times. The stab alone from those boys is bad enough never mind the shot of alcali solution they give you :eek:
 
I was riding my gokart around my backyard a few months ago when all of a sudden i felt something crawling in my shorts and then i felt a few sharp pains. I instantly slammed on the brakes and scrambled to remove my 5-point seatbelt. By the time i managed to get out and get whatever the hell it was out of my pants, i was already stung a few times on the thigh and VERY close to the groin. thank god i'm not severely allergic or i'd be in quite a lot of pain!
 
Many years ago I was driving through a wooded area. Had to take a leak, so I stopped, walked some way into the woods, unzipped and let fly. As I was relieving myself, I noticed yellow jackets swarming around me. I was standing on their nest! I started running, desperately trying to zip up, to get the yellow jackets off me, to not trip over vines and bushes. I guess it would have been hilarious to watch, but it wasn't much fun at the time. ;)

I got stung about 20 times, I think. I climbed back in my van, cracked open a beer, and got back on the road. No allergic reaction, luckily, because I was out in the middle of nowhere, a long way from help.
 
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