Backyard Nature Update

I was ready to log on here and rhapsodize about the wonders of the natural world, the monarchs that we raised from eggs and recently watched fly away as adults across our yard, the swallowtail we found as a young caterpillar on our queen anne's lace that also flew off a day later, the latest fat monarch caterpillar that somehow escaped his enclosure on our picnic table and was found days later in chrysallis form attached to the underside of our patio umbrella . . . but just before I could take time out from these wonderful creatures, just after mowing the lawn and weeding the vegetable beds, just after greeting neighborhood children at the back gate, I swung my arm back and *POW*! I got stung by something very nasty. The natural shine immediately faded from that backyard apple, so to speak. My right index finger came alive with pain like fireworks. The stinger was still in there and I frantically pulled it straight out, thinking this would help. It didn't. I had to leave the children at the gate and run inside to shove my hand under cold running water. This didn't help much either, but I forced myself to lather soap over the tiny wound, following this with a few squirts of Bactine and some spray stuff that is supposed to deaden the pain of bug bites and stings. I dug up the last two teaspoons of Benedryl liquid in the house and drank it. That stuff is yucky tasting, I might add. I now feel more sorry for my children, upon whom I have foisted the stuff in the past.

All this helped some, but wrapping the finger in a flexible ice pack worked the best. It was still hurting 20 minutes later, but not as badly. It was also red, hot and rather itchy. I am glad it was me and not one of the kids. They honestly would have been screaming. Turns out the bugger was a yellow jacket. They have a nice little colony in the bottom of one of our compost bins, right by the back gate. My husband went out and bought some poison at the hardware store to deal with them, but we have to wait until tonight, after the sun goes down and all the little minions are back in their beds before we drop the bomb on them.

The last time I was stung by anything was in the summer of 1998 in Rapid City, South Dakota. It happened out of the blue (like what the heck did I ever do to these guys in the first place???) and it hurt like hell. I had never felt anything like that before. I tried ice and painkillers, but a couple hours later it still hurt so bad that my dad drove me over to the hospital clinic. The doctor there told me that yellow jackets contain their own special bacteria that can be easily transferred to you when they sting. I was given an antibiotic and more painkillers. The finger swelled up like a little polish sausage, became red, hot and itchy, and it throbbed whenever it was below the level of my heart. Driving through the Black Hills for the rest of the vacation, I kept my finger up in the air, dangling my hand from the coat hook above the back window of the car. Two days later when the swelling went down, the skin around the area peeled off.

After googling proper treatment for insect stings, I learned that I should not pull the stinger out if it is left in my skin. Use the flat side of a credit card or a butter knife to scrape it out. Pulling can make more of the toxin get into the wound. My bad. They did recommend 20-30 minutes of immediate ice, which I luckily did do. I seem to have gotten off more easily this time around, but I would recommend that anyone leave those little demons alone. The only consolation is they die after stinging you. Eat black death, you tempermental ingrate! I give you a nice place to live, I feed you, I purport to like anything with six legs, and then you go and and abuse your biggest supporter, and for no good reason!

Okay, I'm done. Centipedes still frighten me and I no longer see any reason to like yellow jackets, but I will try to focus on the gajillions of other creepy crawlie species that continue to fascinate.