to be trapped in our study terrified of the biggest wasp I have ever seen currently frying itself on our landing light?!

[iwanttobepombear]

I am pathetic I know. Any one else got morbid fear of tiny insects?
Any advice on how to escape?

Me!!!!

Just run! Run like the wind! Run Forest Run!

RUUUUNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

Are you sure its just a wasp?

Might be a queen wasp, or worse,...

Might be a HORNET!

barf....they give me the heebie jeebies.

out the window?

Get a big shoe, and squash it! It'll hurt the wasp far, far more than it'll hurt you, and at least you can claim your house back.

If it buzzes at you, stand really still - it'll think you're dead, and ignore you - wasps like a fight

Good luck!

Shouldn't all wasps etc be underground by now?..or visiting Australia? or whatever it is they do in the winter....i thought the threat had passed for another year.

have you escaped yet?

Its probably a queen wasp, the others die off and the young queens hibernate for the winter. They can be quite dopey and crawl around on the floor. (pulls on wasp-stamping slippers)

Oh my god, YANBU I am petrified of wasps.

When pregnant with DS1 there was one in the bathroom. I was 38w pregnant and refused to pee in there. Ex-h was 4 hours from finishing work. I lasted 2.5 not peeing before walking waddling 15 minutes in the height of summer uphill to the local pub to pee instead. Thats how bad my phobia is!

so YANBU - is there anyone likely to come to be able to squish it for you and rescue you??!

(secretly dreading next summer as a single parent having to deal with these creatures on her own)

I did escape and now it's disappeared which makes me even more nervous.
I wondered if it might be a queen too - i don't want that hibernating in my house because we might get a swarm in the spring- aaaarrgghhhhh!

< terrified adrenaline fuelled heart pumping emoticon>

think i need a or something stronger

We had one the other day doing exactly the same thing. Queen wasp I reckon. I don't think they sting do they?

Hoover it up?

Wasps don't swarm.

It will hide sleepily until spring then die trying to find its way out of your house.

I've seen 2 bloody enormous wasps in the last 2 days. I think it's queens looking for their winter homes

Bloody nasty horrible things. Sting you as soon as look at you. I usually spray with enough wasp killer to kill a whole nest, just to be sure, ya know?

thanks for your replies - glad it's not just me who flaps at the sight of a tiny flying buzzing creature

DH out at the moment and only others in the house are three sleeping dcs - just as well they are asleep cos the two oldest ones would be flapping as well as i have completely failed to hide my fear from them. Picture me telling them to 'stand still and stay calm!' whilst flapping my arms around me wildly and hopping from one foot to the other like a demented flea in an attempt to calmly deal with the wasp!

meltedmarsbars thanks for the reassurance.

I thought i saw a 'swarm' or whatever you call it of wasps above our neighbours house earlier this year - flying into one of their chimneys. there must have been thousands of them.
What do you call a collective of wasps? and how do they find where to nest etc?

ha ha ha iwanttobepombear - my DS1 (aged 3) just laughs at my phobia. I run around flapping and screaming and he just says "Mummy, stand still, they wont hurt you" in a very annoyed voice.

Then he tells me one is on my shoulder/bag/hair to see me flap some more and laughs his pants off.

I'm sure he loves me really

smokin

Lots of info here maybe ignore the end part, headed 'killer wasps'

(wasp nerd emoticon)

Wow thanks kurrikurri - really interesting link. I may have developed a new respect for wasps after reading that, but still terrified of them.

However, my wasp is now an ex wasp - i met her on the stairs and threw a book on top of her in panic then felt a very juvenile sense of triumph. Pombear defeats the evil wasp!
Yes I am pathetic .

I am OK with wasps but with me it is moths and butterflies. I know that is even more unreasonable than wasps because they can't actually harm you but I still panic when they get near me!

The bigger they are the worse it is.

And I would never criticise you for being trapped in the study. Once when DD was a toddler I was trapped in the living room with her because a HUGE red admiral butterfly had got in the house and was flyng around the hall. I wanted to make sure DH was on his way home from work so he could deal with it but I had left my mobile in the kitchen. In the end I had to climnb out of the living room window and run round to the kitchen door to get the mobile. Then i couldn't get back in through the window again without dragging the garden furniture round to climb on. All this time poor DD was looking on in bemusement presumable wondering why Mummy was bailing out of the window and leaving her on her own!