*shivers* So we've had a little problem with yellow jackets this summer. Oye, have we had a problem. The little buggers were entering our enclosed front porch through a hole in the brick mortar, and appear to have built a nest in the wall between the porch and the house. Or maybe in the attic. *ick*
My husband attempted to evict them from our premises by filling the hole they were going in and out of with expanding foam. The hope was that the colony remaining inside would be trapped and die off from a lack of food. However, despite our best efforts, the colony lives on and the inside of our porch is filled with 30+ yellow jackets every day, from morning to dusk. We have strays who are somehow getting in the house, and I swear I kill 10-20 of them in the living room daily.
Now, I have to tell you, this is a huge feat for me. I've never been one to kill insects - spiders, flies and bees alike. Ask Alice, I shoo them out the door or try to practice "catch and release" as often as possible. For the first few days of the "hunt", she would ask me "Do you feel bad, mommy?" In the beginning I did, but after a few weeks I was done showing sympathy to the little invaders. Chorus' of "No remorse! No mercy!" and "Die! Die! Die!!" can now be heard filling the room as I whack them with a Sears catalogue (it's that hard exoskeleton!), along with peels of laughter from Alice and Jack as I dodge and flail at a stray wasp, buzzing around my head.
We've suffered no stings yet, thankfully. It's due to my supreme whacking skills, I'm sure. I'm just hoping they die off soon and we can open the door to our front porch again. I'm tired of being a "slave" to them.
And did you know that yellow jackets poop? Oh man, you should see the mess those pests have left in there for me to clean up. Yeah, you're welcome for the hospitality, jerks.
4 comments:
i can just picture you swingy the catalogue around lol!
dh got stung outside the other night. little bugger flew right up his shorts and *zap* dh came running inside naked with this look of fear yelling-where did it sting! rofl!!
Hey Jo, sorry to hear about the yellow jacket problem. We had one a couple ears ago, we all got stung at least once (including the dcks!)
If you want to get rid of them for good go get that liquid flea stuff you put on dogs (I can't for the life of me remember what it's called but the pet store should know) and put mix it into raw ground beef (sounds ever so appetizing, eh?) and leave it in there for a day. Make sure the kids don't get at it! I put a laundry basket upside down on top of the plate. The little buggers'll eat it and take it back to the queen and voila! no more yellow jackets!
Ya, I know it's not nice but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures...
((((hugs))) I hope you and the kids are doing well. Give them a squish from me and the girls will you?
This has been a horrible year for them! I got stung on the finger and it HURTS!! My best friend made a trap out of a 2-litre bottle of coke and has caught many of them!! She said she'd send me the instructions, if you want them too, let me know.
Well, that was a crazy couple of months but I am pleased to announce that the wasp hunting season has ended at last. The last of them died off a few weeks ago, and we doubt any of the colony have survived. We are going to seal every crack in the porch before winter to ensure the buggers don't return next year!
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