Monday, September 3, 2012

Webster and The Bees

When I was walking Webster after dinner yesterday at dusk he must have disturbed an underground bee's nest because he came out of the edge of the woods absolutely covered with these tiny bees or yellow jackets. Luckily I had on a long sleeved shirt and I immediately started knocking them off with my bare hands and then with a broken off tall weed covered with lots of small leaves; it was almost like a broom. One bee fell inside my tall Wellies and stung me on the ankle. I succeeded in getting almost all of the insects off of poor Webster and we headed home where I gave him two antihistamine tablets just in case he had a reaction. I have no idea how many stings he got but he must have been on fire. He panted heavily for hours and finally found the coolest spot in the house under my bed. By the time I turned off the light hours later his breathing had returned to normal and I was sure he was okay. Today he is fine. He was so brave...he never made a sound throughout the ordeal...not even a whimper.

34 comments:

Rachy said...

What a brave boy Webster is, as are you! xx

Juniper said...


Oh poor sweet webster and poor You Rosemary! I'm glad everyone is okay now <3

Teri said...

Poor Webster!!! I'm so glad he's OK. Our Malamute got into a yellow jacket nest and was stung up badly also.

Content in a Cottage said...

Rachy, Juniper, and Teri...

We are fine. Thanks for your well wishes.

Stinging insects are just part of country life I suppose. Webster sends his best to Teri's Malamute.

xo, Rosemary

Garden, Home and Party said...

Oh, Webster, i'm so sorry you stumbled upon yellow jackets. Here in California they are far worse than honey bees. I'm so glad to hear you are okay!
P.S. I hope your sting wasn't too awful, Rosemary.
Karen

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

Those yellow jackets are mean and aggressive. Poor Webster! I'm amazed you only got stung once. I disturbed a nest one summer and had to strip off clothes on the porch as they would not leave me alone. Thankfully the porch is fairly well closed off from anyone seeing anything. I noticed I have another nest of them to the side of the porch, I'm being very careful.

jean said...

I'm glad for you both it wasn't worse. Love the cute photo of Webster! What a smile!!

Anonymous said...

Oh boy. You and Webster survived what surely could have been a much more serious encounter with bees had you not reacted so quickly. Rosemary, you have taught us to have an antihistamine on hand and in a place easy to reach. I will buy some tomorrow.
I doubt neither of you slept very well last night.
Linda

The Queen Vee said...

Oh dear what a frightening and painful event. Webster was very brave and you were quick thinking and brave too. I'm sure you were very relieved when his breathing became more normal towards evening. I'm grateful you are both okay. Give that brave boy an extra spoonful of oatmeal tomorrow.

I'm curious, did you give Webster human antihistmaine tablets? Is there such a thing as animal antihitamine tablets? I'm ingnorant when it comes to animal medicne.

tammy j said...

oh my gosh. reading this was almost like being there! i realized i was holding my breath even. that could have been very dangerous for you both.
thank goodness you were there with him. and i hope your own ankle sting doesn't cause you too much pain for long. want to hug you both!
love,
tammy j

the dogs' mother said...

Abby and Tar send their best!

Sue said...

Glad you two came through it okay. It's been a terrible year for those ground bees. We've had several big nests--they're tough to get rid of.
Next year, pick a better way to spend the long weekend-LOL!

Anonymous said...

oh,poor boy
i hate it ,when my furbabies are ill.they cant say what say need and i am always so afraid that i could do something wrong to help them.
its really good that he is fine today and i hope,you are over the shock,
wishing a wonderful day(without bees)to you ,your mom and webster.
greetings anni,the foxbrothermomma

Anonymous said...

Webster is lucky that you were there. Keep an eye on that precious guy. Country life does have its hazards!
Kathy

Margriet said...

oooh, poor Webster!
I'm glad he's okay!!!
That must have been very scary for both of you!

Content in a Cottage said...

Victoria...Queen Vee...

Luckily I had some capsules left over from an old Piggy visit. He had some "bumps" under his skin and the vet prescribed some sort of animal antihistamine for him. They were small so and so is Piggy so I gave Webster two. It taught me a lesson too and the human ones are on my shopping list. I would have given them to Webster if I needed to since he's almost human.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Linda...(Anon)

Those pills for humans are on my list too. I was just glad I was with Webster at the time. It would have been awful if he had been outside alone.

We actually slept very soundly. He jumped up on the bed sometime during the night so I knew he was fine.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

the dogs mother...

Webster thanks Abby and Tar for their concern.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Sue and Ladyhawthorne (Angela)...

I know the exact location where Webster came out of the woods and we are avoiding that evil place from now on. There are perils to country living.
Angela...you should spray that nest near your porch in the evening when they are all inside. You certainly don't want another episode.

xo, Rosemary

Unknown said...

Oh, dear - poor Webster!! So glad he's all right. Be sure to give him an extra treat - and hug - from all of us!!!!!!!

Content in a Cottage said...

Karen...

I was lucky and so was Webster. Those little stinging things looked very angry and I was happy to be stung only once.

I'm sure they are worse than honey bees here too.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Jean and Tammy J...

Thanks for your concern. We are fine.

Except for my poison ivy :)

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Magriet and the two Anonymous commenters...

We were too shocked to be scared.

Being stung is part of country life for sure.

Thanks for your concern.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Lynne...

Done. Webster has been hugged.
Thanks for your concern.

xo, Rosemary

JudyMac said...

Glad to know that both Webster and you are okay after this horrifying attack. Your "outback" is lovely in pictures, but I would never wade into such a place, primarily because I would be afraid of snakes, let alone yellowjackets. Do take care!

Content in a Cottage said...

JudyMac

We are not afraid of snakes. There are more in the fields than in the woods. We are a brave lot!!

xo, Rosemary

Stacey Snacks said...

Poor Web!!!!
The bees have been so nasty this year, Henry is allergic, Amina was stung badly, needed medical attention, and I was stung in the belly button! ouch!
Henry said he will come and kill the nest if you like.

humbird said...

So glad to know that Webster is fine - I imagine he'll approach that area warily in future :)

And, so glad you were able to administer antihistamine and watch him carefully for possible anaphylactic shock in case his reaction was severe.
You did all the right things.
I hope your ankle is OK and not itchy, although the tabs (and an ice pack) should have helped.

The photo shows what looks very similar to the 'introduced' European Wasp over here.
They try to wage a war on them every season and instill fear and panic in the public. But, the wasps here to stay now, so its just a case of being aware and take precautions... and act accordingly if stung, as you did :)

*I noticed a large sign near a walking track that stated there was an "extremely aggressive" swarm nesting near - wait for it....Lake Webster!
Just thought I'd add that in ;)

Here is the link to a pic http://www.tasadam.com/forumstuff/bushwalktasmania/fieldwasp1.jpg


Content in a Cottage said...

Stacey...

I really don't know the exact location of the nest since it's in the woods. I just know where Webster came out and we are avoiding that area. That's so sweet of Hen to volunteer even though he is allergic. Everyone says the underground nests are awful and plentiful this year. Poor Amina and you too...in the belly button. Ouch.
I was glad I had some Benadryl handy.

xo, Rosemary

Content in a Cottage said...

Vicki...

I looked at the picture of the sign. I though it was amazing that it was on the track to LAKE WEBSTER.

I was glad I had some Benadryl on hand. We are both fine.

xo, Rosemary

Linda said...

So glad Webster is ok...
What a brave little soul he is..

Cheers!
Linda :o)

Content in a Cottage said...

Linda,

Thanks for your best wishes for Webster. He was so brave and such a good patient afterwards. I checked the ingredients on the pills I gave him and I'm quite sure they were Benadryl for humans. They worked too.

xo, Rosemary

Yvette said...

Webster was wonderfully brave and stoic. But oh, the poor guy, must have been hurting. My heart just goes out to him, Rosemary. And what a good momma you are to come to his defense.

Glad to hear that he's feeling better. :)

Content in a Cottage said...

Yvette...

Anything for Webster. I didn't even stop to think. I just started beating them off his back and head. He's fine now and loves being babied about "the bees" :)

xo, Rosemary