Killer Queen

I was out of town this past weekend for my sister’s wedding reception (the wedding having actually taken place last summer). In my absence, members of the Super Friends came over and power washed my house.

While power washing the house (and, subsequently, going above and beyond to clean out my gutters), one Super Friend disturbed a hive of yellow jackets and got stung. Startled by this, he almost fell off my roof. Understandably, I feel quite badly about this — he didn’t have to give up his afternoon to work at my house and in the midst of his good deed, he ended up injured.

My guilt didn’t last long, however, as I was soon distracted by the new home the yellow jackets decided to make — inside the back door. I’m certainly glad I wasn’t my usually distracted self when I opened the door to let the cat out else I may have missed the dozen or so intimidating buggers swarming all over the inside of the screen door.

After consulting friends, coworkers and a very knowledgeable customer service representative at the Home Depot, I purchased a death ray (or can of pest killer) and waited until the early hours of this morning to do away with my uninvited guests.

To most, this is probably a no-brainer type of thing. If you’ve got wasps or yellow jackets hanging around your home in a very intimidating fashion, you run out and get the strongest stuff you can to kill them. But I just can’t do that. I struggle with the moral dilemma of the yellow jackets having their place in the circle of life and what right do I have to remove them from it?

Eventually, I had to accept that there was no way I could live with only having one point of access in and out of my home and the yellow jackets posed a real danger to myself and any visitors I may have. But, even with the deed done, I can’t help but feel a small sense of loss for the part I played in taking the lives of several of nature’s creatures.

I can’t help but imagine them, all snug in the early morning hours, nestled together for warmth in the safety of my screen door and completely unaware of what fate awaited them. I also can’t help but imagine the one yellow jacket who no doubt struck out early to pick up bagels and coffee for the hive only to discover their demise upon his return. The good news, I guess, is that his sadness will be short-lived as The Stuff I used is supposed to kill any returning pest for the next 24 hours.