Are Wasps In Memphis Dangerous?

6/15/2021

There’s nothing worse than enjoying a barbecue in the backyard only to have it ruined by wasps. These invasive pests plague homes and properties all over the Memphis area, but they aren’t completely unavoidable. If you knew just how dangerous these pests were, you might focus a little more on your wasp prevention tactics. There’s much more than your barbecues at stake. If you have wasps around your Memphis yard, then your family could be at risk of serious health hazards. Learn the truth about wasp dangers today and the best ways to avoid them.

Family Of Foes

There are three kinds of wasps that invade Memphis area backyards. The paper wasp is typically what most people picture when they think of a wasp (brown or dark red in color with the skinny, waist-like area separating the main portion of the body from the stinger). Also, members of the wasp family, the yellow jacket will frequent Memphis area homes. These pests are striped in yellow and black and they feature the skinny waist separating the abdomen and the stinger. Hornets are the third type of wasp, featuring yellow and gray-striped bodies. You can tell all of these wasps apart from other stinging insects that invade backyards by noticing the conspicuous stinger protruding from the abdomen.

Paper wasps will build nests under the ceilings of your outdoor deck area or up in trees, while hornets typically create larger nests along the tree line. Yellowjackets, on the other hand, will build large nests in holes in the ground, making it very easy to step on them by accident, which can lead to a very dangerous encounter. It’s important to avoid contact with these nests, as wasps are very territorial, attacking their victims violently whenever they feel as if their nest is threatened.

Unfortunately, even though wasps may be beneficial to your vegetation and the environment as a whole, the health threat is too severe to allow them to build nests on your property. Wasps are capable of stinging multiple times, as opposed to bees that can only sting once without injuring themselves.

Plus, since wasps are very territorial, they will issue a distress signal to other nearby wasps when their nests are threatened. Multiple stings from multiple wasps can result in harmful medical conditions, including anaphylactic shock, which can be fatal in certain instances. This risk is heightened severely if you have family members who are allergic to wasps, but even those who are not allergic are at risk of dangerous medical conditions in the event of multiple stings. 

What Can You Do? 

Even though wasps can be very hard to control on your property, there are a few things you can do to avoid an infestation. These DIY wasp control methods involve:

• Trimming the hedges around the yard
• Maintaining the lawn properly
• Spraying essential oil solutions around the yard
• Avoiding the overwatering of plants
• Partnering with a professional for nest removal services

While all of these methods can help you reduce your chances of a wasp infestation, there is nothing that’s more effective in deterring wasps than removing their nests from your property. However, this is the number one way to put you and your family in danger. You should never try to deal with a wasps’ nest without professional assistance. Remember, wasps can become very territorial, especially when you mess with their nests. Partnering with a Dart Pest, Lawn & Wildlife technician is the best way to create a wasp-free backyard. We will provide regular de-nesting services at an affordable rate, along with emergency wasp control solutions in the event of a pop-up problem.

Keep in mind that wasps can be very territorial about dormant nests as well. If you do find a nest on your property, do not try to remove it yourself even if you believe it to be inactive; contact Dart Pest, Lawn & Wildlife for its safe removal or for more prevention assistance. Call us today to schedule an inspection with one of our highly trained residential pest control technicians.

Tags: home pest control | stinging insects | wasp prevention