On my way to work yesterday, I stopped to fill up my truck at a Mobil along Beltway 8. It was somewhat chilly and drizzling some, so I didn't waste any time (maybe spent 5 minutes tops). While I was driving out of the station (radio blasting), I felt a sharp prickly sensation along my left armpit. Because the shirt I was wearing was fresh from the cleaners, I thought maybe they had left a pin in the shirt and I had gotten nicked. I parked the car at the station exit and feel around the area - nothing. I also yanked on the seat belt to see if it was maybe pinching me - nope. As I was doing this, another car from the road tries to turn into the station but had to stop because I was blocking their entrance. Seeing this, I take the truck out of park and head out of the station. 20 feet down the road I feel another sharp prick in the same area and what feels like blood or sweat run down my left side. I immediately swerve into a car wash lot, jump out of the car, and start unbuttoning my shirt. The other commuters probably found it very funny to see a guy standing in the lot stripping and groping himself, but I was freaking out. I was thinking up all sorts of ridiculous ideas (heart attack, terrorists planting hallucinogenic-tainted needles in my truck while I was filling up). Once again, however, my self-examinations come up empty - no pins and no blood. Baffled, I rebutton my shirt and get back in the truck to drive away. As I'm leaving the car wash lot, I feel something crawl up my right side and hear a buzzing sound. I stop the truck and open my door to get out again. Before I can step out, a yellow jacket flies out of my shirt. I later find two big welts around my left armpit. This is my second twilight zon-esque close encounter with bugs (the first was having a bunch of termites crawl all over me while I was napping in my old rental house). I can't figure out how the hell the yellow jacket got in my shirt. Not to mention that the weather wasn't exactly bug friendly. Has anyone else ever had something like this happen?
Sincere condolences. Wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets must be hunted to extinction. These pests should be eradicated so our children can have a better tomorrow.
About 10 years ago I had a secada-killer (spelling?) (bumble bee sized wasp creature) crawl up my shorts while I was driving. I gently pulled over, got out and it crawled out and flew away. Man o Man. It never did sting me. Their stingers are about an inch long.
Tis the mark of a Hornet or Yellowjacket. They silently and lightly crawl into your clothes and hem themselves somewhere they can sting you repeatedly. They are particularly aggressive during early fall too. What probably happened is you got too close to a nest and were deemed threatening. Sometimes, if the hornet's nest is a large one, more than one will attack. I had a very similar situation happen to me. I felt a tickle on my neck, twice. I scratched it, no big deal. A few minutes later, same thing you experienced. Needle like pain in my arm pit. Yes, it wedged itself into my arm pit and stung me twice. That b*stard didn't get out alive though. I smashed him when he fell out of my shirt.
ARgh! I hate yellowjackets... as a kid I was bitten on my left hand and all 5 fingers when I accidently stepped on a nest that had fallen! That sucked!
One time when I was young my brother and I decided it would be quite corking to throw a log onto a huge wasps nest...it was not a smart decision. We were each stung maybe 5-10 times while running back to the house. Ever since then, I have fostered a healthy respect for wasps and yellow jackets.
I remember seeing an interesting story on bees. I'm not sure if this applies to yellowjackets and hornets, but it might. Bees are agitated by the carbon dioxide that leaves our mouth. I'm not saying that you won't be stung if you hold your breath, but you may not get them as riled up. A beekeeper demonstrated this by walking by a nest breathing normally rousing the bees. Then he walked by again breathing through a length of tube and the bees didn't budge. As a matter of fact, some bees flew around the opening of the tube that was dragging 10 feet behind him. I can't remember the name of the show though...
When I was maybe 5, an older neighborhood kid told me that bees went to sleep automatically in darkness. He said if you caught a bee in your closed hand, and you closed all your fingers really carefully so that no light would get in, that the bee would go to sleep and not sting your hand. This did not work. I like the breathing idea, until the bees start flying up the tube. I have some freak friends here in California who do bee-keeping as a hobby. They get stung all the time. Freaks.
Secada, as in Jon Secada, the Latin singer? You are talking about a Cicada. The large, stout flying insects that make the loud buzz in the trees, and leave those brown hollow exoskeletons on the fences and such when they morph into adults. The large bumble-bee sized creature you are talking about is called a Cicada Killer or aka Giant Wasp. They can get quite large, although I have never seen one with an inch long stinger. Maybe a half inch is more likely.
Yellowjackets suck, they make me die. Once I put my boots on, laced em up, & got about 6 steps before Mr. Scorpion got my foot. Right on the arch where there's no callouses or anything. He got me about 7 times before I could get the boot off & squish him.
Didn't know about the "s". I stand corrected & will avoid such egregious errors in the future. Thank you for your support.
