< the paper wasps >

[rayheinrich]

i thought all wasps were territorial and very skittish.

I must live in the wasp capital of the world.
I remember when I was a kid around here and there wasn't
a week that went by that we didn't get stung by something
(scorpions as well, but they're pretty mild ones).
Our wasps' skittishness varies all over the place.
Solitary wasps, like the mud dauber (we have lots around
here and they build their nests from mud) aren't aggressive
(I've never been stung by one). With red wasps you have to
get about a foot away before they do something (which
is a bit severe as they are large ones). The paper wasps
(yellow jackets etc.) are, as you say, skittish. Five feet
normally brings 10 or so at you. The worst are the ground
wasps. They make large nests underground and since
they're in an easy-to-get-to location, they have to be
especially fierce to defend it. When I first heard of
Africanized bees I thought of them. If you get within
15-20 feet of them they make this low, loud buzz that's
pretty scary since it seems it's coming from nowhere.
If you keep walking it gets louder. When you get within a
few feet about 50? 200? of them rush out, swarm around
you and keep stinging (bees can only sting once and it
kills them, wasps can sting 5 or 6 times and live).
This has happened to me twice, the last time I was mowing
and couldn't hear their warning. Killer bees can kill you,
these can't, but 100 small wasps buzzing around stinging
me on my face, up my shorts, etc. reduced me to an extremely
painful, red, swollen, psychological mush. Especially around
the eyes, DAMN, just gave myself a PTSD attack!!