But I opened the door and Mr. Wasp flew out to dive bomb somebody else.
Only it turned out it wanted to dive bomb us. Him and a LOT of his friends. They were flying in and out of a little strip of metal above the gutter right over the front door.
"We'll get some wasp spray," Mr. L said.
Okay. He bought it and since I decided to go back there to write he handed it to me and said, "Good luck."
Gulp.
Mr. Wasp and friends were very busy when I arrived. Going in and out and (presumably) building more rooms in the nest for their friends and relatives.
Gulp.
But before I did anything I did what I never do. I READ THE DIRECTIONS ON THE CAN. It said to wait until dusk when Mr. Wasp and friends were turning in for the night.
It was a L-O-N-G day, and I went in and out the back door.
At long last almost dusk arrived and I went outside, set up the ladder (this time wearing shoes with traction. I didn't want a repeat of two weeks ago when I fell down the rain-slick steps and received a gigantic bruise the side of Puerto Rico). Perched on the ladder, I took aim and SQUIRTED. Wow--that can really could expel its poison for 20 feet. But was I in a good position to actually get the nest, which is completely invisible?
I squirted again. Mr. Wasp and pals were getting a little upset. Suddenly there were about 20 of them hovering madly outside their home. I jumped off the ladder and backed away, sure I was about to be swarmed. But the wasp family was more interested in defending their turf than turning on me. Still, I squirted a couple more times from the ground and waited. Nothing seemed to happen, but I did hear some odd buzzing. I looked down and a couple of wasps were wiggling around in agony.
I felt like a murderer. I stomped on them to put them out of their misery and hurried back inside.
Okay, I worked in a chemical factory for over 25 years. I know what poison does and wasp spray is poison. These wasps could have lived long and happy lives if they'd built a nest in the tree or in someones barn far away from me.
I have a feeling they're not finished. They're big. Like Terminator wasps. They'll be back.
Next time I'm going to let Mr. L deal with them while I hide at a safe distance.
Have you ever dealt with wasps or other really big bugs?
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