wasps

Yellow Jacket – Day 1007

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Not the wasp that stung me – Photo: L. Weikel

Yellow Jacket

Aaargh. I took advantage of the temperatures being ten degrees lower today than they were earlier in the week and mowed my part of the lawn. (For some inexplicable reason, Karl and I have taken to each mowing our own segments of lawn.) I hadn’t mown more than two stripes of lawn when I felt a searing pain in my left knee. I was surprised because I was in a really grassy part of the lawn, with very few stones that might accidentally get flung at me. But when I looked down, I realized a yellow jacket had entered my jeans via a large rip just below the knee.

Curses

I flailed and I hopped and I shook my leg, slapping at my pant leg and fearing there were more inside my pants. I’m sure you’re shocked to learn that I yelped and called that yellow jacket every name in the book. The only reason I know it was a yellow jacket (looked just like the one pictured in this article) was because it fell out onto the top of my sneaker as I beat my leg senseless.

But it was a singlet (thank goodness). I have no idea where it came from or why it attacked me. I suspect it may be related to the fact that Karl had a run-in with a whole bunch of wasps last week, when he was mowing ‘his’ part of the lawn behind the barn. He hit a nest built into the ground, and boy did they get him good. I think he suffered at least six or eight stings, poor baby. One got him so good it left black and blue bruises on his leg.

His reaction to the stings was a bit, shall we say, aggressive (albeit understandable).

My theory is that this single yellow jacket was a type of kamikaze wasp. It knew a human was associated with the roaring machine that cuts down everything in its path (including their homes). It knew what was responsible for attacking its home and family recently and it was determined to avenge their deaths.

Shifting Blame

Well, in addition to name calling, I also yelled at the yellow jacket that stung me (and any others that might be listening) that I hadn’t harmed them. I’d even tried to ward Karl off of taking revenge against the wasps that attacked him last week. I’d been their champion, in a sense – or at least their apologist. I couldn’t believe they were going after me when I’d done nothing to provoke them.

I have no idea whether my innocence was conveyed and a crisis was averted or if I just happened to piss off one solitary yellow jacket. All I know is, I’m glad I only got stung once because this single sting is causing me a disconcerting amount of sharp, burning pain. Perhaps it’s because I was stung on my knee cap. There’s not a lot of flesh there, and it’s also getting aggravated and stretched whenever I walk.

Mother’s Remedy

I immediately patted down the sting site with bleach – and took a couple Advil, mostly to no avail. I’d say the best treatment of the entire evening was holding a Ziplok-ed bag of ice against the swollen sting site. Now that the icy numbness has worn off, it once again feels like my knee is on fire.

I’m thinking about the fact that the sting took place on my knee. Since knees are associated with moving forward, it might mean that I’m being ‘provoked’ into taking affirmative steps to create the change I’ve felt approaching for some time now.

Or maybe we just have a bunch of really angry wasps down by our barn and they’re going to make everyone associated with the lawn mower pay.

Photo: Griffinpest.com

(T-104)

Wasps In Our Face: Part 2 – Day 311

Posted on by Lisa Weikel 2 Comments
Creating the nest – Photo: L. Weikel

Wasps In Our Face: Part 2

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been puzzled by the influx of wasps into my life this summer. I’d even forgotten, until I wrote that post, that I’d been stung by a wasp exactly two weeks before discovering the intricate nest of paper wasps on our home’s office window.

It’s a little disconcerting, I’ll admit. It’s a large nest, and they’re continuing with new construction. And even though I looked them up and discovered that they don’t routinely attack people for sport or entertainment, they will seriously attack you up if you mess with their nest.

That does pose a dilemma, although in our case, I suppose it’s not as bad as it would be if it were on our porch or close to our front door.

Leave Me Alone…

This first tidbit of information on Wasp reminds me, actually, of what I learned about the Copperhead snake that I nearly fell on. Both of these creatures (a) are a bit scary and warrant being given a wide berth; but (b) are not known to go after a human unless we provoke them, either by accidentally stepping on them or going after their nest.

In other words, they leave us alone unless and until we fail to respect their boundaries and get in their faces. That feels significant to me.

On a purely practical note, I didn’t realize it, but they tend to prey on caterpillars and other destructive insects, which I suppose may be one of their greatest contributions to the ecosystem. They also do engage in some pollination, although not – I believe – to the same extent as, say, honeybees. One slightly creepy aspect of their eating habits is that they paralyze their prey instead of killing it. They bring the paralyzed captive back to the nest so the grubs can feast on it, and since it’s not dead, it lasts a bit longer – and doesn’t rot.

Busy, busy wasps; nurturing those grubs – Photo: L. Weikel

Animal-Wise

One of my go-to resources helping me understand why a particular creature may be showing up as a messenger in my life (or in the lives of my clients) are the books by Ted Andrews. While he’s written many, my favorites are Animal Speak, Animal-Wise, and Nature Speak.

The ‘keynote’ expressed in Animal-Wise on Wasp is “Protective nourishment and role fulfillment; dreams fulfilled through practical effort.”

As I read through the couple pages of information, these words popped out at me as being relevant to me and my life right now:

“…(Wasp and its activities) reveals how to construct and nurture our dreams. The six-sided cell is a geometric shape associated with the heart. The grubs are the things of the heart that must be nurtured and hatched in solidness. Dreams without practical preparations are more likely to fail and die. Dreams motivate us, but their fulfillment is based upon work.” (emphasis added)

Wasp grubs (dreams?) – Photo: L. Weikel

Yes, I’m getting a clear message that I need to get to work on manifesting my dreams. Interestingly, Andrews continued: “Wasps have a cycle of power ranging from spring to fall. Late summer it is stronger. Wasps have a tendency to become aggressive in the late summer and early fall. And this cycle is usually at place for those to whom the wasp is a messenger.” (emphasis added)

Andrews then asks some questions that, I must admit, are worthy of my serious contemplation (and getting answered in my journal): “When wasps show up, we should ask ourselves some important questions. Are we feeling paralyzed in the pursuit of our goals? Are we building from the ground up? Are we working solitary or for the group? Are we fulfilling our tasks? Are those around us doing their parts? Are we pursuing our dreams in a practical manner? Are we getting too aggressive in our pursuits?”

I feel it might be worth asking if I am being aggressive enough to achieve my dreams.

He concludes with this thought: “Protection is strong around you now. Dreams will be fulfilled through practical efforts and fulfilling your role and responsibilities.”

Grateful Contemplation and Appreciation

I am grateful for the appearance of these fascinating creatures in my life. It doesn’t escape me that they’ve built their nest precisely in such a way that enables me to watch how they nurture those first, inner grubs – the dreams of the hive – and how they build everything around them.

Seems I’d best get to work.

Building, creating, working – Photo: L. Weikel

One Last Thought

I have to admit, the appearance of this nest from the outside of our house is a bit… disconcerting. I share it with you below.

To me, it looks like a woman, blindfolded, her mouth open in some sort of expression. What is she calling out? Does she represent Justice? Or is she just a mummy?

Photo: L. Weikel

(T-800)

Wasps In Our Face – Day 309

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Wasps In Our Face

Oddly, Karl and I seem to be hosting wasps this year – more so than any other year I can remember.

Although I haven’t found a nest, I’ve occasionally seen yellow jackets hanging around. And a few weeks ago, while sitting on my porch working on my computer, I noticed a persistent, high pitched whine of a buzz. Upon investigation, I discovered several rows of clay-colored mud in the shape of pan pipes behind a set of shutters. Mud wasps.

I waited until I saw several leave and knocked down their adobe homes. They apparently took the eviction to heart and have not returned.

Paper Wasps

I cannot say the same for a nest of hornets, or paper wasps, that has taken up residence in a simply astonishing venue.

In early August I was upstairs on the second floor of our home. I walked into our home office to scan some information onto a thumb drive. As I was thumbing through reference book, I heard an intermittent clacking sound on the window, which faces east.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled back the white sheer curtain hanging in that window and found this:

Like an Ant Farm

Yes, I was one of those kids who had an Ant Farm when I was growing up: one of those plastic contraptions that allowed you to watch ants create their networks in dirt compressed between two clear plastic sides. It was amazing to watch those industrious creatures build tunnels and feed their queen, create worker ants and live in community.

Well, the hive being built up against our office window puts even the most elaborate ant farm I ever saw to shame. This thing is a work of art.

And yet? They will mess you up if you even think about getting near them.

That clacking noise I heard? That was the wasps apparently noticing my entry into the office and their displeasure with my presence. Had they been able to penetrate the glass in our window, I would’ve been mercilessly attacked.

I wish I could embed a small video into this blog so you could see and hear and experience the viciousness with which they tried to attack me when I lightly tapped on the window. It gives fresh and scary perspective to the adage warning against ‘stirring a hornets’ nest.’

Why So Many Wasps?

I had to wonder, though. After living in this house for almost 35 years and having no issues with wasps of any sort, why was I suddenly encountering at least three different kinds this summer?

And what in the world was with their undertaking a massive nest right in my face, literally on the window of our office?

And then I remembered: I’d even been stung by a wasp a few weeks earlier (exactly two weeks earlier, as a matter of fact), when I’d taken a friend to sit by the Tohickon.

I never would have guessed the message Wasps were bringing.

(T-802)