Stings-Believe this or not.....

**carpet_ninja** · 04-27-2008, 04:09 PM

i wouldnt try this with pure copper dust because if it gets into your blood stream it competes with blood for oxygen and usually wins, but i think its only if you breath it in, correct me if im wrong

**Rick** · 04-27-2008, 04:15 PM

Coot can back me up on this one. Back in the day before insulated telephone service wire was "the in thing" we used open wire. Copper plated steel with no insulation. Many is the time you'd be caught climbing up through some open wire at the very moment someone was getting a call. The end result is the ring current would pass through you leaving green marks on your sides and the taste of pennies in your mouth for the rest of the day. 66 cycle, 90 volt AC will rattle your permanent teeth and cause you to involuntarily utter bad words.

**RobertRogers** · 04-27-2008, 04:40 PM

Typically the pain gone in 15 if I do not do anything, at least for me. So that means the penny will prolong the pain.

**owl_girl** · 04-27-2008, 06:59 PM

When i was a kid we just used mud or baking soada though now days it usually dosnt hurt enought to bother. only if it hits a nerv or somthing i guess otherwise i might not even notice i was stung right away.

**Rick** · 04-27-2008, 07:02 PM

Lady, you have some tough hide. I scream like a girl and wet myself every time I get stung. Whine about it for weeks. I do believe I saw colored circles flying in the sky....no wait. That was those danged mushrooms. Anyway, it hurts like heck.

**Alpine_Sapper** · 04-27-2008, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by owl_girl

When i was a kid we just used mud or baking soada though now days it usually dosnt hurt enought to bother. only if it hits a nerv or somthing i guess otherwise i might not even notice i was stung right away.

When I was 19 I was roller-blading in Wisconsin one day. I took a pretty daring jump and didn't hit my target, spun on my knee pads on the street. Came to a rest and looked down at my arm because I felt movement. Biggest bee I've ever seen with his stinger in my arm just flopping back and forth. Never knew he hit me. I just thought "Huh, wonder how long he's been there?" and *thump* sent him flying. Mistake. Ten years, two army medics, three girlfriends and one wife and I've *still* got part of that stinger embedded in my arm. Still got a tiny hole, too, but you pretty much have to know it's there to see it. TDW tries to get it out periodically with her talons when she's bored, but I think what's left is there for life.

**Rick** · 04-27-2008, 07:26 PM

It's good to have something stable in your life, isn't it?

**owl_girl** · 04-27-2008, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by Alpine_Sapper

When I was 19 I was roller-blading in Wisconsin one day. I took a pretty daring jump and didn't hit my target, spun on my knee pads on the street. Came to a rest and looked down at my arm because I felt movement. Biggest bee I've ever seen with his stinger in my arm just flopping back and forth. Never knew he hit me. I just thought "Huh, wonder how long he's been there?" and *thump* sent him flying. Mistake. Ten years, two army medics, three girlfriends and one wife and I've *still* got part of that stinger embedded in my arm. Still got a tiny hole, too, but you pretty much have to know it's there to see it. TDW tries to get it out periodically with her talons when she's bored, but I think what's left is there for life.

Wow that sucks. You know ive heard scraping it off is the way to go like with a card or something and to never pluck it.

**Ridge Wolf** · 04-27-2008, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

Tunick - I'll look you up next time I'm getting ready to get stung. Last time I got it was between the fingers when I grabbed a handful of Weeping Willow branches. Wasp was hiding in there and I found him. That's the fastest I've ever let go of any kind of branch. Good golly Molly that hurt.

Ahh.. yep.. been there and done that.. 'cept it was a yellow rotating water sprinkler for me.. 'they' were right there under the thing on the shelf.. and they were the kind with the narrow long waist and big butt.. Angry lookin' things.. right between the fingers..

**Rick** · 04-28-2008, 07:41 AM

Wasps love to build nests inside the aerial terminals on poles. You learn pretty quickly to tap on the terminal cover just to see who was home. I've popped the cover on a couple and either had to lay waaaaaaay back on the pole until they calmed down or if the nest was large enough..make a hasty retreat.

My boss, me and another co-worked pulled up to a pole in early June and they were swarming the terminal. As luck would have it, it was my co-worker's pole. He eyeballed the situation, looked at me, then looked at the boss.

"You think we could wait awhile for this one?" he asked.
"How long?" asked my boss.
"I was thinking after the first frost."

**MCBushbaby** · 04-28-2008, 09:50 AM

You're supposed to scrape off the poison gland with the edge of a knife or credit card and then tweezer out the stinger itself. Pretty much negates any swelling or tenderness, though this is from secondhand experience - I've never been stung

**bulrush** · 04-28-2008, 10:53 AM

When I went to Hawaii on a hike, the guide told us if we get stung by a jellyfish or sea urchin, to put ammonia on it (he brought vial of it), which will neutralize the venom, which is a type of protein. If you have no ammonia, put urine on it, which has a small amount of ammonia on it. Back in the news a few years back, some minor movie star urinated on some stranger who got badly stung by a jelly fish.

Ammonia might work on a wasp sting. But copper has nothing to do with making it acidic or alkaline. I've been stung by yellow jackets and paper wasps about 5-6 times. On my neck it hurt for only 5 minutes. On other parts, leg, hand and arm, it hurt for about 15 minutes. I did not have any ammonia to try out that cure.

As far as the tobacco cure, I have heard that tobacco juice helps, I just haven't tried it.

Another cure is ice if you have it. Ice the sting for 15 minutes ASAP.

Did you know tobacco juice will actually kill insects? It's the nicotine that kills them.

**Ole WV Coot** · 04-28-2008, 07:21 PM

The virtues of tobacco juice is well known in this area. I worked with guys that could knock a wasp out of the air with one good shot. My policy was to tilt the terminal, stick the Wasp Stopper in the other end and wash everything out. I have seen nests 2 ft long(with my hand in the air) and a zillion wasps. Like I said you can get stung and try a penny, me I don't think I will bother. I found the first frost was tough because the wasps didn't fly they walked around the pole waiting for you to grab or lay your arm upon them. Copper wire with ringing current will give you a varied vocabulary and will fry any wasp that might happen to be on your body. A poke of chewing tobacco should be included in every first aid kit. We had good Wasp Stopper which even worked on nosy kids and dogs propelled by freon, froze those suckers. Then the EPA made us use crap that we sprayed in the lid, caught the wasps with a pair of long nose and drown them. I have been stung at least 100 times or more and every one of them hurt and made me sniffle. You folks are too tough for me.

**Rick** · 04-28-2008, 07:36 PM

Wasp stop does not work on Blue Jays. I battled one on a pole one day in the middle of a cherry tree. Rascal kept smacking me in the hard hat. Took a couple of belts before I figured out what it was. I sprayed him down pretty well and he just ruffled up his feathers at me.

**Alpine_Sapper** · 04-28-2008, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by Ole WV Coot

The virtues of tobacco juice is well known in this area. I worked with guys that could knock a wasp out of the air with one good shot. My policy was to tilt the terminal, stick the Wasp Stopper in the other end and wash everything out. I have seen nests 2 ft long(with my hand in the air) and a zillion wasps. Like I said you can get stung and try a penny, me I don't think I will bother. I found the first frost was tough because the wasps didn't fly they walked around the pole waiting for you to grab or lay your arm upon them. Copper wire with ringing current will give you a varied vocabulary and will fry any wasp that might happen to be on your body. A poke of chewing tobacco should be included in every first aid kit. We had good Wasp Stopper which even worked on nosy kids and dogs propelled by freon, froze those suckers. Then the EPA made us use crap that we sprayed in the lid, caught the wasps with a pair of long nose and drown them. I have been stung at least 100 times or more and every one of them hurt and made me sniffle. You folks are too tough for me.

Now, there is a WORLD of difference between a red wasp sting and a bee sting.