Every Fall we get these yellow and black pests invading our outdoor dining. You can't have a picnic - or even a simple lunch on the deck - without swarms of these guys invading. They go to your food. They even go inside your open soda cans. They're annoying at best, and harmful at worst. I once took a drink from a soda can that had one of these guys inside and got a fat lip from the sting in the process. They do this out of hopelessness, we're told. Entymologists say they know they're lives are over and they are, in effect, angry.
Here's another Fall pest, this one biennial:
Like the pesky yellowjacket, they always seem angry in the Fall. But this year, there's every indication to think they're angrier than normal. Could it be they somehow know they're life is almost over, too?
Let's make it so. This Fall, the best antidote to the angry elephant is to work hard for the happy donkey. If we all pull together, we can make the elephant's new pose this one:
About the yellowjackets?
Seems we have to live with them ......