Yellowjacket followup

Total body count: 137

Although the exterminator sprayed on Saturday, yellowjackets were still finding their way into our bedroom. All were punch-drunk and easy to kill, but we weren’t too keen on sleeping in the bedroom until we were sure they were gone. (Let’s just say I’m squeamish about bugs crawling in my nose at night, and doubly-so when bugs with stingers are involved.) We slept on an air mattress on the living room floor — it was just like
camping

On Wednesday morning, I left a voice mail with the exterminator.
I was in our bedroom, folding laundry, when I saw a sickly yellowjacket by the baseboard under the window. I waited, hoping it would stumble far enough into the open carpet that I could whack it. Instead, it hobbled along the baseboard to the corner of the room, climbed up, then wriggled into a tiny hole I had previously not noticed. This meant there was a much larger presence inside the wall. (shudder).

I called the exterminator again to find out when she could respray. To my surprise, she picked up on the first ring and remembered me. The first comment she had was that just been indoctrinated into pest controller-dom, having been stung twice that morning. She wouldn’t say who won the office pool, but admitted she was relieved it was over. The stings were not as bad as the onus of being “the new person.”

She set up an appointment for the late evening.
The plan was to drill holes, spaced evenly along the wall, and inject Pyronyl and Microcare into the voids. These are the same chemicals she applied to the exterior of the house. The mixtures and procedure are also used to treat an infestation of carpenter ants.

While setting up, she saw a yellowjacket zombie ambling along the floor and offered to give me a demo of how quickly the spray worked. I scooped it onto a piece of paper while she gave a quick puff of one of the solutions. The yellowjacket was immobilized in less than a second. In the back of my mind, I was contemplating the irony of trying to be environmentally progressive… until some damned critter tried to eat, nest, or burrow into my house and I have to resort to something toxic.

Jamie donned a respirator because it was indoors. While she sprayed in the walls, I rooted around in my garage for the putty knife and spackle. She finished in about 15 minutes and sprayed a little foam into the holes. We were her last call for the day.

Although the room didn’t noticably smell, we camped downstairs another night anyway. I spackled the holes on Thursday afternoon and we moved back in that evening. It sure felt good to sleep on a real bed.