My suggestion ...

... shower ... tomorrow?

So what if you stink a bit in between (which I doubt, unless you've been doing major physical exertion, whether doing work or playing).

And even then ... it usually needs some time to "ripen".

ole joyfuelled

I just realized what I'd do (if you saw what I posted before I removed it all). I'd spray him with Lysol to get his wings good and wet, until he dropped to the ground, and then swat.

Hair spray can be effective against flying insects. I don't like Raid and that kind of thing.

Oh no, you're OK with snakes but afraid of a wasp? ;)

I'd probably knock him down with a broom if up high, have a big handful of toilet tissue at the ready. Drop in and flush.

Oh, it is one of those huge red wasps? They really sting-be careful. Spray him with water, once their wings get wet they can not fly & then swat him with a heavy duty fly swatter! Good luck!

Do you have a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment? You can just suck him into the machine.

Thanks, everybody...I'm happy to report that Ms. Wasp was flushed not too long after I first posted.

I used my organic insect killer to spritz on it first and that really disabled it! No Lysol, Raid, or strong hairsprays in the house and I wouldn't trust water at all! I've seen wasps in the rain.

It fell to the window sill and I smacked it a few times before getting that big wad of toilet paper to grab it with.

Mor, I know...I know! Wasps give me more anxiety than a snake, isn't it funny? But never enough to paralyze me or keep me from doing what I want to do, where I want to do it.

I faced my fear one day a few years ago when I was sitting outside, enjoying an afternoon, reading a paperback and sipping some iced tea. A red paper wasp swooped in, landed on my book and began nibbling up and down the edge of the pages. Then it flew off, only to return to do the same thing several more times.

I was so charmed by this event that I pretty much lost my irrational fear of them after that.

After all, I've worked around bees my whole career, nudging them out of the way with my hands, pruning or watering with bees working the flowers all around me. I've never been stung by a bee.

Hi Rhizo,

Some WASPs ...

... as in ...

... White

Anglo-

Saxon

Protestant ...

... can give a guy (i.e. person) a substantial nip, from time to time.

Some of those stings continue to hurt for years.

ole joyful ... former clergyperson

P.S. When one claims to speak for God ...

... it's important to be very careful what one says.

o j

We have lots of wasps here and they get in thru the open doors a lot. I just capture them in a container and take them out. I've found them to very docile unless touched, pinched accidentally or stepped on. The stings hurt like FIRE and ice is the only thing that makes it feel better.

I can't share space with a wasp since I was badly stung by one many years ago. I was sitting on the floor and it had crawled up under my skirt. I brushed at the tickle and it stung me several times in the leg and hand. Silly me, I wasn't thinking so didn't take any antihistamines and spent the night having weird dreams bordering on hallucinations. Now if a wasp comes anywhere in my space it has to die.

Here in CA, we don't flush for a wasp. Gotta be more than a bug to qualify to use up that much water! Glad you got it though and didn't get stung.

Here in Ohio, flushed water is never lost. We have a closed loop system which returns the flushed water to the treatment facility and then it's returned to us as drinking water a few weeks later. :}

Flamey, I'm all for live and let live, but not when the adversary is anything but docile. :-0

Socks, I'm in the habit of being conservative about flushing, too, but I've tossed too many squashed spiders into the toilet, only to find them climbing up the bowl an hour later! I needed to see that wasp go down the tube. Thanks, though, for the reminder about the water situation in California. I can't imagine how stressful it must be.

Guess what I had to do last night? And I'm allergic to wasps. Must be in the air. I'm all for live and let live, but if it stung me, I could well be dead. Very allergic. Him or me. so it was him. And I sprayed him then my son got him when he fell on the ground, because he came from the ceiling. Or she might have been a she. Didn't have another one around for comparison.

Rhizo, I wasn't giving you a hard time about flushing. Yes, it is not a happy time in CA. Other states suffer too.

I'm glad you don't have the problem anymore, but I'm with PKPonder . . . a cup and a piece of thin cardboard (or a junk-mail envelope) takes care of all the insects and arachnids that make their way into my house (although I admit to leaving a few of the spiders inside).

Remember--we end up breathing whatever is sprayed. I can't think of too many sprays I'd want to breathe.

I leave the spiders alone.

It's anything that can kill me that has to go. I leave them alone outside, but in my house, they can't be there. The nest tends to be by the window, so I was worried about letting others in, instead of letting it out :(

Ugh wasps! They are out in DROVES! I got stung by one last fall just because it flew past me as I was outside. Seriously....I must have been in it's way and it had someplace to be so *bam*. I had a significant reaction so now I don't mess with them. They get sprayed.

This wasp was very agitated, probably from banging against the window trying to get out for who knows how long. It wasn't obligingly waiting for me to scoop it off a wall or window. Trust me, I used the only reasonable method available to me in this particular situation. Wasps will attack when stressed and feeling threatened.

This reminds me to speak about the insect spray I used! I keep a pesticide free home/garden as well as a toxin free home, as much as possible. I am very seriously affected by many household products.

Robert brought this spray home a couple of years ago, mostly for yellow jackets and hornets in the storage building and garage; I've never had reason to use it before. The active ingredients include peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, sesame oil. The inert (other) ingredients are water, isopropyl alcohol, canola oil, wintergreen oil, and CO2.

One little spritz did the trick.....brought the wasp down so that I could get to it safely. It's made by EcoSmart. I also have their personal insect repellent and it's effective, too.

I've been known to whack a spider in the house when capture was impossible. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do :-)

ANY normally outside critters like wasps, hornets, flies, spiders, etc. that come IN to my house are going to be gonners.

what ever it takes. but nothing larger than a 14 gauge shot gun in the house, for the big wasps:-)

" ... nothing larger than a 14-gauge shotgun in the house ..." ...

... operated by a Big Shot, no doubt?

o j

Joyfulguy

KA BOOM

am I a big shot? You should see a wasp tremble when I cycle a shell. I say, cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war. Be gone you unholy vermin.

I feel the need to clarify something, lol. I have a respect and admiration for wasps and gratitude for the work that they do in our environment. The larger wasps and hornets are pollinators and active predators.

I've watched them actively patrol my gardens in search of caterpillars or spiders, diving deep into the shrubby cover of leaves and coming out with a caterpillar. I cheer when I see them in the garage (spider factory) when we have the door open.

Outside, they only pose a threat when defending a nest, which they will do vigorously. I have had to get rid of some yellow jacket nests over the years but only with regret.

@lindaohnowga- I figure any critter like a spider, wasp, cockroach etc that comes into my house left a suicide note at the door as it came in...

What timing! I was just thinking about my dog. Now that warm weather is here, she will not be coming out of the bedroom closet until late fall. Well, except to eat and go out, just as quickly as she can. Earlier today I had to push her hiney out the door.

Several years ago she was stung on the snout by a wasp. Every flying insect is her mortal enemy, but she doesn't stand and fight... she hides. There is no convincing her to join the rest of the family. We coax, beg, plead, even demand, and it's not happening. It's so sad that sometimes I want to cry.

Once all the flying foes are gone, she'll take her place on the love seat again.

Charlie would be very thankful to you!

what's worse? those oversized house fly...and had them at Christmas!! don't know if one had nested or got caught in the house, after snow was already on the ground....