Many of my fellow bloggers
have a close and wonderful
relationship with the animals
in their lives
(whom they often photograph)…
such as Scifi, Francis, Curious Introvert,
67steffen, and others, with their dogs;
others with their cats,
Linda with her pet-like squirrels,
and others with their cuddly pets.
So i tried to get close to one
of my sweet photography subjects,
a wonderful wasp.
It stung the hell out of me!
********************************************************************************
I was just kidding about the sting… but i was so close to it that i could have kissed it! 🙂
I did get stung by a wasp (while just walking along by the riverside) a number of days after taking this photo, but i am so impervious to bee and wasp stings — i don’t even swell up whatsoever — that it meant nothing to me.
Not so friendly wasp … Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2018
Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog 
a wasp sting is best avoided IMHO unlike a honey bee, the wasp has a reusable stinger and it can pierce and poison you multiple times without dying.
Yes, i used to keep bees many years ago. Some African bees, especially, have a propensity toward being very belligerent.
Great photo. Red “warnings” all over him!
Yes! 🙂 Generally, they leave you alone if you leave them alone… which is only fair.
Respect a wasps boundaries, or else! Like you, I don’t react a whole lot to stings, but they are a bit uncomfortable nonetheless.
Yes, they are usually, from what my experiences are, very forgiving and are not very likely to sting at all. 🙂
by and large that’s my experience, too, Tom. I tend to get it when I brush at something in my hair that turns out to be a wasp. Lack of mindfulness goes to stung.
I’m not a fan of stinging insects, and my spouse is very allergic.
We take a wide berth!
If you are very allergic… that is another story, yes, avoid them. My problem is not with insects but with poison ivy. I am currently treating myself for a rash of it right now. Nasty stuff! 🙂
A pretty little vespid in your photo. I have some fluorescent orange ones in my yard. Like others in the comments, I have a close relative who is allergic to them so I keep a respectful distance.
Like was mentioned to Sandy, it is not wasps that i am allergic to but poison ivy. I avoid it but it is so plentiful in our area that (because of my nature outings) i usually get it every year; i thought i beat it this year but got some while pulling weeds on our riverbank. 🙂
Sorry you have been “stung” by a plant that you react to. We all have things we’re sensitive to.
Awesome shot and kudos to you – I could never get anywhere close to a wasp – I am terrified of them
They really are not all that bad whatsoever. Don’t be afraid of them! 🙂
Aw, that stems from falling into a wasp’s nest when I was a child – got stung several times…but thank you.
Excellent shot and yes…stick to furry friends for a nice warm cuddle!
Yes! Dogs for sure! Little dogs. 🙂
I generally don’t worry about wasps or bees, but several years ago, a type of wasp that lives underground stung me on my back and it was about the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. It was swollen for two weeks!
Wow! Two weeks is a very long time. Might have been Yellow Jackets. I did some pics of them — quite some time ago — coming from underground burrows. They never stung me but they were very aware of my presence.
Maybe so. I never got a look at the one that stung me.
I’ve never thought about wasps as pollinators, but in the last month I’ve seen three species happily buzzing around plants like frostweed. I must say, they didn’t seem to be at all disturbed by my presence, but then I wasn’t trying to interrupt their work or intrude on their space, either. It was a different story when I inadvertently stirred up a bumblebee ground nest.
Oh, yes, wasps frequent wildflowers very often. I have tons of pics of wasps on flowers. They are excellent pollinators (often being covered in pollen). They are so “happy” when they are on wildflowers that the chance of being stung is very minimal. Most wasps just mind their own business and only sting very rarely.
You’re funny Tom … you must resort to liking those pet-like squirrels instead. You’re lucky you don’t suffer any side effects from wasp bites, I’ve never been stung by a wasp or bee but I was bitten by a carpet beetle a few years ago and had an allergic reaction – they are smaller than a grain of rice, and they have little furlike feet that go over your skin and they don’t bite per se, but it is the part of their body that is irritating. I had two blisters that were huge on my ankles – one on each ankle on the instep. Two years later and I still have the scars from the blisters and they took a long time to heal.
One time a huge Fisher Spider — 3 inches long — somehow got in our house and bit me in the leg while i was on the living room floor. I had no bad reaction but had a scar (of 2 fang marks) for around 2 or 3 months. I caught the spider in a jar and released it outdoors. 🙂
I had never heard of a Fisher Spider until last year when there was an article and picture on the news about a huge one found in a boat in Indiana. Just Googled the story and here is its picture, so no wonder you had fang marks: https://www.foxnews.com/science/indiana-man-warns-locals-to-beware-of-giant-spiders-after-spotting-6-inch-crawler-at-work
I thought at the time that I’d likely have a heart attack if I saw it. We had several instances of Black Widow Spiders in bunches of grapes here in Michigan a few years ago. I have not bought grapes since and if you would see what I go through when I buy bananas … I put two produce bags over my hands and turn the bunch this way and that … I’m not going to have one walk out of the bag while I’m driving home. You may laugh, but one time I was doing this in the store when picking out a bunch bananas and one of the produce clerks said that when she handles bananas she always uses heavy gloves, in fact she pulled them out of her produce cart where she had them stored while she was working. She said there was indeed a Tarantula-type spider in box of bananas. It crawled out of the box after she opened the flaps of the box!
What a shot 😍
Thanks, TJ! She’s a real beauty all on her own! 🙂
That looks like one mean wasp lol
Wonderful photo and poem! It must be your peaceful vibe that allows you such close-ups with wasps!🙂
Ouch! Wasps are the nastiest! Hope you are ok?
Truely inspirational…..like the way it is brought out…
also read
https://auntknow.com/5-famous-animals-our-future-generation-wont-be-abl-to-see/
Fantastic picture! Wonderful colours on him 😍