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janis_g

I hate yellow-jackets!

Janis_G
13 years ago

You would too if you had one sting you on your "social finger".

I was just walking down the walk at my sis's house and all

of a sudden, wham, my finger started hurting.

I looked down and there sitting on the end of my finger

was a yellow-jacket with his stinger embedded.

I slapped him off but he left his stinger behind.

Folks, I can't describe the pain that little black stinger

inflicted. It really hurt so much, I cried, and believe me, I

am no wuss. Neil swears that all the way home I kept saying

sheeshh, that hurts but I know I was *%$#@!#$#@ all the way

home while planning the demise of the little b@$*!#d but

not before I had personally pulled off his little legs and

wings one at a time (I already had his stinger).

Did y'all know that a yellow-jacket stinger will keep on

stinging until you pull it out?

My social finger was swollen twice it's normal size and I

had iced it til it was frozen solid when I decided enough

was enough and I got a safety pin ( there are no needles

in this house) and picked and probed until I got the stinger

out. If Katrina hadn't just seen a tv show about yellow-

jackets I wouldn't have known about the stinger.

Anyway I hate yellow-jackets and if I ever see that little

b@$*!#d again I'm going to run like h*!!.

Comments (14)

  • pamven
    13 years ago

    Boy can i identify with you on this one. I get so mad when they sting(without any provocation) me that i cry out of frustation rather then pain. Oh and they are dirty little buggers ...hang out on garbage and dog poop and other "tasty" treats. Make sure the sting doesnt get infected.

  • Janis_G
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I've never had one hurt this much and I have been stung
    before. That thing had some serious venom in his stinger.

  • lilod
    13 years ago

    Folks here use Adolph's meat tenderizer made into a paste with water to take the sting out, swear it works. they are nasty buggers, Jan ((((hugs)))) ice packs help, whining helps (no kidding) time helps. I had my share of their attention...

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    13 years ago

    I'd have been dead. Litterally. I'm highly allergic. I don't doubt you about wanting to pull his legs off one at a time. He deserved it!!!

  • mwoods
    13 years ago

    With all the bees and wasps flying around on the property and my face in flowers and plants all the time,the only time I've ever been stung are by those nasty yellow jackets and they really do hurt. Sounds like you got it especially bad this time around.Ouch

  • gandle
    13 years ago

    I agree with Janis, they really do hurt like the devil. And are usually unprovoked.

  • mawheel
    13 years ago

    Oh, Janis, I'm so sorry. My finger hurts just thinking about it!

    I hate to display my ignorance, but which finger is one's "social" finger?

  • Janis_G
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Think about it mwheel.
    Some people call it the middle finger.
    Some call it the bird finger.
    Around here it's called the social finger.

  • mawheel
    13 years ago

    I thought it might be "that one", but had never heard the term before.

    Be careful, Janis, in trying to shield your finger, someone might think you're giving them the business! :>)

  • meldy_nva
    13 years ago

    I've heard that meat tenderizers which contain a papaya extract help. Also, ammonia. I had neither available when I stepped into a yellow jacket nest while mowing, and got over 100 stings on my legs. I did have antihistimine tablets on hand and swallowed a double dose before driving to the emergency room. Within a half-hour, my legs were so swollen that I couldn't bend my knees-- actually could barely determine where they were. Janis is right, the pain is agonizing... I don't know about a single sting, but it was over a week before the multiple stings eased off. I've always thought it a bit unfair-- all that pain from the stings, and there's not even a possible benefit arthritis-wise, lol.

  • mawheel
    13 years ago

    OMG!, Meldy! That could have been--possibly was--a life-threatening experience! Must have been quite an ordeal for you. Glad it turned out O.K.; also glad I don't mow, anymore. :>)

  • meldy_nva
    13 years ago

    I was hurting too much to be scared, but the docs made good noises about taking the antihistamine right away (this was in the days before epi-pens). They spent a lot of time hunting for stingers (and arguing whether a blob of swelling was from one or two or several stings); Janis didn't say, but removing the stinger sometimes feels almost like getting stung again in the same spot.

    I still mow; but that winter I removed all the log/wood edging on the raised beds. Yellow jackets aren't nearly as fond of making nests under concrete.

  • Janis_G
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    meldy, I was moving around a bag of old peat moss
    several years ago and got into a nest of yellow-jackets.
    They were stinging me all over and I made a run for the pool
    while removing my clothes as I ran.

    I got so sick, started swelling, running a temp.
    Would have gone to the hospital but Neil came home and gave
    me shots. Maybe my memory has diminished over the years but
    it sure seemed to me like this one sting hurt much more than
    the others. I know one thing, I don't ever want to have that
    happen again. Shoot, maybe the difference is that I'm just
    getting older. I keep thinking about little children being
    stung by one of those critters.

  • anneliese_32
    13 years ago

    I am sorry for all of you who got stung. Knock on wood, I never have been stung. I don't know why, because I have been around the beasties all my life.

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