Ok, this is a little off topic, but having been around two vicious attacks of yellow jackets and watching my lawn turn into a mess from moles , I thought it wise to share this with you. The other night, as I gazed out on the back lawn, I thought, ‘Hey, I have been neglecting the yard’. No doubt the Lab’s repetitive piddling, the moles’ tunnels, rutting and mounds had caused the lawn to look pretty bad. But nonetheless, I grabbed the hose and decided to water the flowers and hit some of the brown spots with the stream of water. It was low light, almost dark. I stood in the middle of my lawn and as I sprayed the water, through the mist I could see a subtle movement in the lawn at about 50! locations. I stood there motionless and soon realized that the emerging, hovering critters were Yellow Jackets. I looked about to turn around and saw an equal number behind me. I froze. Having been severely bitten by Yellow Jackets before and having watched my two older boys get severely attacked, I was immediately afraid. But the Yellow Jackets stayed low and in a drunken flight headed straight to a spot in the middle of my lawn. They were flying to and crawling into the remnants of one of those damn mole mounds that I had previously flattened.
Over and over those Yellow Jackets went to that hole and crawled inside. Now, I recently wrote about reconnecting to your youthful imagination. At this moment, I reconnected to my youthful indiscretions: for I cautiously walked to the shed, got the gas can, matches and a small tin can and yes, you guessed it, Pyro boy was resurrected. A good two inches of gasoline into the hole, two or three non-igniting matches tossed toward the wet hole and then finally “we have ignition” BLUEWY!!! Like an untapped, ignited oil well in Iraq, A shooting flame rose a foot or two into the air and burned for a good fifteen minutes. Good riddance little SOB’s!
That was a week ago. Yesterday morning early (getting ready to go test the Duckling ‘Fly’) I am headed from the shed to the door when what do I see but emerging Yellow Jackets, not from the previous hole, but some three feet over. I crept up to the spot and sure enough there was a newly dug hole with a tiny mound of dirt (a mini mole hole). Well to hell with this. Pyro Boy re-emerged and within a crisp few minutes I had several real or likely entrances looking like the previously burning oil fields of Iraq.
Not sure I have them under control yet, BUT, be forewarned re mole tunnels being commandeered by Yellow Jackets. Insult to injury the little flipper footed pest popped up over and the other side of the lawn.
SwittersB & Exploring 
