The Walking Thread

[TiggerTrigger]

Wasps... interesting in Oregon wasps don't make contact with humans

Yellowjackets are only aggressive when disturbed though they do like outdoor diners
...so I can't wait to photograph our thumb size wasps... but they are not aggressive... just villainized to scare children

I was searching the web for solutions and the only thing I found that was similar to my issues just happened to be a Reddit post from a local guy. He was chased by at least five of them while jogging one day. At our house, we have issues with red wasps. I got a nasty sting several years ago and it was a solid 2 weeks before the site healed. It's not the red ones going after me on the greenbelts. Some of them are paper wasps, but it's not just wasps. I know for certain one was a hornet and then others are smaller stinging or biting creatures. A few were horse flies.

I know wasps hate peppermint and is supposedly effective for hornets. It may also work on horse flies. I just don't know how well it will work if they are after me to defend a nest. One of the ones that landed on my leg last year was nearly the size of a cicada killer (which are massive) but they're usually non-aggressive. I wasn't sticking around to determine its exact ID. Still, I'm in the woods technically invading their territory. We had one of those get into the house one time. Scared the daylights out of me!