Yellow Jackets Suck

[BuckleBoy]

Yes friends, I have a story...

I went to West Virginia to check out a site that a friend had suggested. She had "eyeballed" two coins there in the years playing in the woods around her house. One was an 1827 Quarter and the other a Spanish silver Coin from the 18th century. I had just imagined the place crawling with coins of that caliber under each swing of a detector. Although the week was filled with a other great finds like a handful of wheat and Indian cents, a silver ring, a fantastic gold ring (more on that later), and even a few Civil War artifacts, the old silver in those woods eluded us. Two metal detectors in that expanse of woods didn't amount to a drop in the bucket after hours of tireless hunting.

Anyhow, so back to yellow jackets. The first time I dug into a yellow jackets nest, I was in the middle of the woods on a mountain top in Virginia and my diggin buddy had just unearthed a Civil War ram rod. My blood was pumping so hard from his find, that it took a second to realize what the swarm of bees expanding upward towards my face was. In that split second, I was stung...and stung again...and again. 20 stings total on my legs and arms, including two on my face. Those @#$% things got up my pants legs, and I had to endure an excruciating week afterward.

On this past trip, I encountered them again, this time at an old schoolhouse site. I had placed my Fisher 1266-X on the ground, and pierced the ground with my shovel when I saw the swarm balloon upward. I immediately knew what was up and yelled to my diggin buddy and we both got the heck out of there (I was not about to bend toward the swarm to rescue my metal detector!). I managed to escape with one sting and my buddy and I regrouped about 30 yards away. The sky was threatening rain, and I realized only then that my shovel was stuck upright in the earth and my detector was laying there on the ground, turned on, and crawling with bees. At that point I decided in a brave act to grab a 20 foot long tree limb and "hook" the metal detector to lift it out of there. What a crazy sight to see. I have decided that of all the flora and fauna I have come into contact with while diggin' (angry bulls, snakes, bears, poison ivy, and ants), yellow jackets suck the most.



BuckleBoy

 

[JerV3]

They sure do.

There bad this year because of the mild winter here in P.a.

I had the same happen to me on sunday. Dug a hole at the base of a pine tree and got stung in the leg.

I guess I'm the only TH out there hunting cellar holes with shorts on. I dropped the shovel got the hell out of there.

Left the detector on the path and had my brother grab my stuff.

It happens I guess.

HH Jer

 

[gold-digger]

I can feel your pain. My other half got stung a few years ago, and within a half hour, was in the ER. Really close call. For 3 days those bees hoovered around our house and attacked anything that came near by. They made a nest in a pompas grass bush that was about 10" long and about 5" round. (I still believe they were part of those killer bees that are invading the south).

 

[diggemall]

Had an encounter two summers ago - was discing my back "yard" and disturbed a nest. Got stung 6 times in my hand arm and leg. Next thing I knew I was puffed up so bad I thought the skin on my hand was gonna split, then I started getting some weird discoloration along the veins in my arm and leg....scared me enough to call ask-a-nurse and they told me I won a trip to the ER. Took a few Benadryl, headed to the hospital, and by the time I got there the discoloration was gone. More Benadryl, and a couple days later all was back to normal.

Last summer we had an infestation of them getting in through a small hole in the wall - they built a massive nest in the joists in the ceiling of the basement. My wife had to be the brave one and clean it all out. I stood by and "helped" (from a safe distance).

Yellow Jackets SUCK, and have me terrified, now.

Diggem'