Yellowjacket attack

Pete the Aussie got swarmed by yellowjackets this morning.

We were taking our regular morning stroll out to the newspaper tube when he started digging in the leaves alongside the driveway. The next thing we knew, he was being swarmed, and maybe stung, by dozens of yellowjackets.

He headed for the garage door and Maria yelled for me to get the garden hose to spray them away. In the meantime, she grabbed a push broom and – to his great credit – Pete trusted her and held still while she used the broom to shoo away most of the wasps. Yes, they’re wasps, not bees. And unlike bees, they can sting multiple times.

I turned on the hose, getting my pants soaked in the process because of a leaky nozzle connection, but Maria had most of the wasps brushed away before I could get a clear shot at him. She and Pete fled into the house where a yellowjacket under her flannel shirt stung her in the right side. She chased it down with a flyswatter and killed it. Inspecting the shirt, I found a second wasp, brushed it into a trash bag and smashed it.

We called the vet’s office and are following the recommendation of Benadryl every four hours and pain meds that we had left over from Ruthie’s knee surgery. We can’t find any sting sites on Pete, but it’s hard to tell because his fur is so thick. The vet said he’s most vulnerable around the mouth, but his lips look okay.

Maria is on Benadryl too and says the sting hurts like a mofo.