Escaping an angry swarm of wasps!

[SoulRaven]

So...the short story is that Boyfriend and I accidentally ran into/over a wasp's nest while exploring a road near Mt. Rainier.

These wasps proceeded to chase us for MILES. I'm not kidding. The van had been damaged and I couldn't safely stop to check out how bad because the things just kept catching up to us, mad as all get-out. I blogged the story here.

Has anyone else had to deal with wasps, especially after disturbing a nest? How would you prepare for/deal with it?

 

[cyndi]

That's one problem I never considered. I can't help but wonder if they were African bees. Or if part of the nest or the queen was somehow caught on your van

 

[SoulRaven]

I can't help but wonder if they were African bees. Or if part of the nest or the queen was somehow caught on your van

We thought maybe some of the nest was stuck on it, but when we were finally able to check it out there were no bits stuck on anywhere, not even remnants.

I hadn't thought of the African bee possibility. That actually sounds pretty likely. I've disturbed a yellowjacket nest before and saw the results up close behind glass and this definitely seemed more aggressive than that. It was on DNR land near a trailhead, so I just emailed them. I'd really hate for someone to experience that without protection!

 

[TrainChaser]

I was stung several times by wasps recently, so I googled wasp repellent -- and there aren't any, apparently. Rats!