River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-02-16
THE YELLOW JACKET.
IL IL Creature that Operates In n 0uis
hut Effective Manner.


THE ysller-jacket is the meanest of
all fiyin' varmints." says an old ILL.,
noisan. HE is a peculiar. sneakin'
sort of a cuss, and never gets in his
work like other insects with stings in
'em. Now. take a honey-bee-when
he gets after you he buzzes around a
good deal and sings purity sharp note
Just before he makes dab at You.
The humble bee-he's a great big. lum-
BERN Teller, always good natured and
busy with his own affairs, if you'll just
let him alone. When he gets mad he
gives you fair notice, and would druth-
er fight n black, woolly dog or little
Niger any time. III he does come at
you he'll cut half-dozen big circles in
the air about your head before he tips
you The wasp and the mud-dauber
won't sting you unless you put your
finger on him or give him a squeeze Of
some kind.
1.-THE bornet-well. the hornet simply
comes out of his high-hangin' nest some
Saturday afternoon when the stones
and clubs begin to fly tbickly about
him-talscs dead aim at the little boy
who's settin' back on the fence and
hasn't thrown a single stone. Like a
rife shot he pings him square in the
face. IL that little boy don't go back
ward, heels over head. on the ground.
its no healthy hornet, that's all I've got
TO say. But the yaller- Jacket is a vile,
pesky beast Maybe he's harmless
enough buzzin' around the kitchen
when your mothers making preserves
or putin up peaches and pears in tin
cans He's very quiet too while he's
suckin' grapes and bitin' all kinds of
ripe fruit He never gathers any honey
or wax from the purity flowers that
can see, and / must say never saw
him go out of his way to sting any
body; but you stir him up at home once
and you'll always remember it, He
don't come out like fair fighter and
GO for your face or hands.
"You may take a big elder brush or
pick up piece of fence rail and thrash
or poke into his nest with a GRANDEUR
rah and never get sting while you're
doin' it. When you get tired You go on
with the other boys and set on a bank
or a log and tell each other how you
shattered the yaller pests. But in a
few minutes. like you was struck with
lightnin', you bounce up about four
feet in the air and begin to clutch at
your clothes and yell. You tear off
your roundabout, snatch open your
shirt collar. yank off your galluses. and
skin off your brooches. howlin' all the
time like a wild Injun. When you git
down to the bare skin you'll likely find
three or four yaller-jaclxets sittin' on a
soft place on your hide. pluggin' it into
you for all they're worth. l tell you il
hurts, too, worse than any other sting
you ever had. You see, that's the way
the yellow-jacket operates.
"Of course, he gets out of pa thence
while you are tearin' up his nest-feels
kind o. outraged. you know-and two
or three quarts of him pours out of the
hole TO see what's goin' on. He takes
the matter quietly. lights on your
clothes. slowly investigates and looks
around for an opening, gently slides
hisself in betveSn the buttonholes. and
finally gets down to hard pan. When
three or four of 'em on .ch boy git
ready, they proceed to business, as you
dictionary fellers would say, stimuli
taneously.' Mebbe they like chorus
singin' by the boys | tell you I've
been there frequently. After one of
these engagements I've often seen a
dozen boys sittin' in the mud on the
creek bank. start naked, with little
dobs of blue clay all over their backs
and bellies to take the poison out
where the sting went in."-St Louis
Globe Democrat.