[pct-l] Yellow jackets and EpiPens on the PCT

miles brown e.milesbrown at gmail.com
Mon Sep 10 16:05:00 CDT 2012


Once, when I was quite young, my brothers and I were tramping through the
woods, off the trail. I don't remember why. Could've been someone needed to
find a 'toilet". Could be we were just curious kids.
Suddenly my brothers began screaming terribly and took off running.
And screaming terribly.
It was quite unnerving. And more than a little confusing.
I stood among the dead fall watching my brothers tear wildly down the path.
I was slightly disconcerted that they'd left me to fend for myself.
After finding my way back to the trail I followed it down to the parking
lot where my sobbing brothers had met up with our dad.
That's when I learned that my brothers had been swarmed by yellow jackets
after inadvertently stepping on a nest.

I had been right next to them during the incident yet I wasn't stung or
even attacked. I wasn't wearing repellent. And I'd left my cape at home.

Like Mr Chelin, I think insects and animals respond to our
emotions. Though, of course fear itself is odourless, some creatures may
smell the chemicals our bodies emit during our emotional responses.
It's also my opinion that bees etc. respond defensively to behaviour they
perceive to be aggressive - loud noise, vibration and wildly swinging arms
etc.

Helpful?

On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 8:33 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:

> Good morning, Don,
>
> It’s difficult to predict where a hiker will encounter yellow-jacket nests
> because they are not necessarily persistent from year to year.  At various
> times I’ve passed places where there likely were nests but I haven’t seen
> them – only an increase in the number of bees.
>
> It probably helps that I almost always hike alone – almost always – because
> the first hiker can tick-off the bees who then sting those following.  The
> one time I didn’t hike a substantial distance alone I got stung several
> times.
>
> I hiked between Etna and the Cal/Or border with SoJo.  She was just head of
> me crossing one of the wooden foot-bridges along Grider Creek on the
> approach to Seiad, and in the middle of the bridge she yelled and started
> to run.  By that time I was on the bridge and I got nailed myself.  I was
> just aggravated, but SoJo began to have an acute systemic reaction so she
> took an antihistamine tablet, something that’s is good for hikers to carry.
>  Her symptoms persisted so I gave her the tablets that I carried.
>
> My totally-unscientific opinion is that yellow-jackets, and any of their
> bee cousins, can smell fear and since I don’t particularly fear them I pass
> with a minimum of problems.
>
> Steel-Eye
>
> -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
>
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 9, 2012 at 4:50 PM, Don Jack <donaldjack at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > About two years ago I was stung 6 times by yellow jackets who had
> > established a nest in my front yard. The stings were painful but that was
> > about it. Two months later I was stung 3 more times. That second incident
> > resulted in a severe allergic reaction and I now carry an Epipen with me
> as
> > a result. The yellow jacket nest was also removed shortly after that (so
> > much for "live and let live" ).
> >
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-- 
Miles

*Find your passion.  **Pursue it with fervour.  *Have something to fall
back on.
(Like, your ass.)



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