wasps

[cheryl foster]

im just interested to know if there are any people like me when it comes to wasps.. i dont like scorpions either but you dont usually see them evertime you turn round in the summer.. im actually that bad that i threw myself out of a moving car because one got in through the window.. i hurt myself but id still rather have done that than got stung.. i had a lovely mug set..i was drinking my tea on my balcony..a wasp appeared and i literally threw my mug in the air and ran in the house..my mug was smashed to bits.. one got my living room..i shut the door and didnt open it all day, blocking the bottom of the door with a towel so it couldnt come out..i waited for husband to get home from work to open living room door.. people crack up laughing at these stories but its such a bad phobia..nothing else bothers me..ive owned dobermanns which i know people can be scared of..i have snakes..and i know people are scared of them too..but wasps? im literally petrified.im seriously nervous because the weather is getting warmer and theyll be out soon.. the weird thing is..ive never been stung by one..but i had an experience when one landed on my arm when i was walking down the road..i went mad..people ran over to see if i was ok..and some bloke flicked it off of me.. i had a rash afterwards aswell.. which makes me think i must be allergic to them..plus its the thought of it actually stinging me.. is anyone as bad as me when it comes to wasps? i absolutly HATE them..

[jca]

I am the same! I have owned tarantulas as pets! I have handled them just fine. But even the mere mention of a wasp and I will take off running. I have embarrassed countless friends and family members in public. If we are at an outdoor event or place and I see a wasp or hear a buzzing that could be a wasp, I will scream at the top of my lungs about how allergic I am and for someone to please kill it/them. I am not allergic. I have "hid" in a bathroom for 8 hours with towels clogging the bottom of the door holding a can of hairspray... I have kept a bathroom door shut for two days, trapping one inside. I used the neighbors bathroom.

I am not sure, but I think a wasp sting can cause what appears to be an allergic reaction, when it is just the normal reaction for that type of sting. And it may be worse for some.. When I was six, I sat on a playground thing and a wasp stung my inner thigh. My leg instantly swelled, double in size in mere minutes. The sting area oozed. It was the scariest thing at that point in my life. My mom rushed me to the emergency room and I was later tested for allergies. I wasn't and am still not allergic to anything.

I often wonder if THAT specific event led me to this irrational fear. It sometimes makes me laugh, later, of course. I never laugh in the face of wasps. But you know, they are so small. But they are scary as crap.

More on me, I have TONS of tattoos and piercings. They have proven to hurt way worse, and take a million times longer to heal than any wasp or bee sting ever did. Yet, I can't wait to get more body ink. And I will forever run and scream from wasps.

[robinbrum]

Do we need them?

[jca]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqu...,-1158,00.html

these were kind of entertaining.

---------- Post added at 20:55 ---------- Previous post was at 20:51 ----------

wasps perform a vital service by helping to pollinate the world's plant life and eliminate various six- and eight-legged pests.

I hope that's what you meant with "do we need them?". it made me think, "DO we need them?" I guess we do. But couldn't honey bees do all the pollinating?

[robinbrum]

That's all very well jca but any creature that tries to come between me and my beer I wish eternal damnation!!!

It was an amusing article though and very informative...

---------- Post added at 02:00 ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 ----------

I guess they do play their role in the eco system, just as flies do by eatiing faeces I guess...I don't like them much either.

[jca]

They do interrupt the best things! They are jerks. I love to do yard work; mow the yard, use a weed eater, plant in a garden, play with my dog... but I never can. I am an outside smoker. During the summer I smoke on my back porch with a can of hair spray ready to go in one hand. My brother jokes that one day I will blow myself up.

Every summer I beg for someone to sponsor me and a move to Alaska, a part of Alaska where there is always snow and no wasps.

---------- Post added at 21:06 ---------- Previous post was at 21:05 ----------

I'm always terrified my job/hotel and my house will blow up and/or catch fire.... but I am never scared that it will happen while I am there. I am very careless with that hair spray. It just now dawned on me. hmmmm.

[crystal17]

You're not alone. I have a really severe phobia of wasps, its been like this since I was a teenager. I can't even stand to look at pictures of them, they scare me so much. I have got off countless buses when there have been wasps on them and had to wait for another one, then had to get off that one if there's been a wasp on there too! I have also thrown things that have wasps on or in them, I have screamed like an absolute idiot in public and on my son's school trip, embarrassing him. I've kept out of rooms for hours until my partner can come and get rid of it. I am terrified of them!

I've been stung once before, and ironically I didnt even know it was a wasp sting until I looked at my arm and saw one of the evil ones just sitting there - all it felt like was a slight tingle on my arm and didnt really hurt, but once I saw the wasp I freaked out, knocking drinks over and screaming while running around - it was in a beer garden of a packed pub and I'd not long been with my partner so was really embarrassing lol.

I'm also dreading the summer, where they will invade everywhere its a huge problem for me, so believe me you are not the only one who suffers this, dont feel alone

[Pipkin]

Hi JCA,

I hate the little blighters too - they're just so bad tempered. I've taught myself just to stay calm and waft them away. We used to keep bees when I was younger and they're so much better. They don't scavenge for a start and rarely sting.

I guess they hate us just as much for spoiling their fun.

Pip x

[robinbrum]

A wasp in your car when you're driving - now that does scare me.

[jade1978]

I have a major phobia of wasps too, I am an hysterical wreck if one comes anywhere near me, even if one goes near my children I run the opposite way which is awful isn't it Ive never been stung by one either so its completely irrational. I have been stuck in the hallway of my house for hours after trapping a wasp in the kitchen and one in the lounge, I had to wait for my mum to come and rescue me! I'm not scared of any other insect, I keep snakes and rodents as pets. I also jumped out of our car at some traffic lights once when I wasp flew in the car. Last summer we went out for the day, and the whole place was swarming with wasps, I spent the whole day squealing stupidly and crying. Really wish I could get over it.