# If stinging insects or caterpillars freak you out, do not look at the enclosed lonk. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941 "2006-08-23T20:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/81 "2006-08-26T03:19:52Z")
Those are some of the creepiest things I’ve seen. For the next few minutes, any breeze or gnat that touches my arms or legs will elicit a high-pitched, girlish shriek, as well as a major bout of shivering and patting. Someone should invent some kind of bug spray grenade. Just pull the pin, and toss it in the ol’ Chevy! PS. anybody shocked by how calm the man living by the yellow jackets seemed? ---
**Author:** ![Sad\_and\_Deranged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Sad\_and\_Deranged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sad_and_Deranged)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/82 "2006-08-26T03:20:18Z")
Since I can’t read whatever language it was on the catepillar lonk, does anyone know how long it took for those tents to develop?? It would really freak me out if I took my bike down to the grocery store, parked it against a tree, did my shopping, and come out to find that the catepillars have taken over in a matter of hours! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/83 "2006-08-26T03:32:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sunshine and Smiles] Someone should invent some kind of bug spray grenade. Just pull the pin, and toss it in the ol’ Chevy! [/QUOTE] I would think there are lots of guys who would like to suggest their BIL has enough balls to set off an insect fogger in there. Heck, I know folks at work… ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/84 "2006-08-26T18:43:54Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] To the tune of ‘It’s Slinky’ \*They have wooly butts and big wooly nuts their circular horns don’t honk. They’re raised for their meat they walk on the peat Everyone knows it’s Lonk! It’s Lonk, it’s Lonk, they’re big, they’re fuzzy, they’re sheep. It’s Lonk, it’s Lonk have sex with them-you’re a creep.\* [/QUOTE] Bravo, **danceswithcats** , bravo! Although I’m sure **Hal Briston** takes issue with the “creep” bit. I’m sure he feels that the love between a man and his lonk is a beautiful thing. (Now if only I could get that damned song out of my head.) ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/85 "2006-08-26T19:52:22Z")
A lonk once bit my sister. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/86 "2006-08-26T20:43:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sad and Deranged] Since I can’t read whatever language it was on the catepillar lonk, does anyone know how long it took for those tents to develop?? It would really freak me out if I took my bike down to the grocery store, parked it against a tree, did my shopping, and come out to find that the catepillars have taken over in a matter of hours! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: [/QUOTE] It’s Swedish, and it doesn’t say anything (that I found) that said how long the bikes had been sitting there. I didn’t look at all the links, though. The caterpillars were interesting, but the yellow jackets were just horrifying. Eep. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/87 "2006-08-26T23:19:53Z")
[QUOTE=wheelie] A lonk once bit my sister. [/QUOTE] An annointed one!! All hail the new handmaiden of Lonk! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/88 "2006-08-26T23:27:27Z")
[QUOTE=wheelie] A lonk once bit my sister. [/QUOTE] Kinky. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/89 "2006-08-26T23:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] An annointed one!! All hail the new handmaiden of Lonk! [/QUOTE] Beat me by eight minutes, you… Er, does this “annointed one” bit have anything to do with volcanoes, obsidian knives, hearts, that sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/90 "2006-08-26T23:32:05Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Beat me by eight minutes, you… Er, does this “annointed one” bit have anything to do with volcanoes, obsidian knives, hearts, that sort of thing? [/QUOTE] If you were a true worshiper of Mighty Lonk, you wouldn’t have to ask. Seize him!! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/91 "2006-08-26T23:36:25Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] If you were a true worshiper of Mighty Lonk, you wouldn’t have to ask. Seize him!! [/QUOTE] _Ah, shit!_ Feets, don’t fail me now. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/92 "2006-08-28T18:21:15Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre] Fun yellowjacket fact: Once you disturb the nest, they are hyperaggressive, and the first 'jacket to sting you leaves a little smear of pheromone on you that says to every other 'jacket in the vicinity, “Enemy! Sting this until it dies!” At that point, it’s entirely possible to be swarmed by hundreds or thousands of them (although tens is far more common,) and they don’t stop stinging. Two years ago, while doing field work in north Alabama, I disturbed a nest, and within seconds, I was mobbed by the little demons. One got under my T-shirt and stung me 8-10 times in the ribs. One got my elbow. One stung my left eyelid. I got stings all over my hands, ankles, and legs. It was brutal. I’m not allergic, thank god, but I didn’t sleep for two days because of the pain. I literally could not straighten my body completely because of the stings on my ribcage. It felt like somebody hit me with a baseball bat. And the kicker? Because of the little pheromone marker, I could not outrun them. I felt the first sting, and took off. I ran for 50-100 yards, and was immediately attacked again when I slowed down. I ran again, toward the truck, and was stung again as I approached it. Hideous little bastards, yellowjackets are. Oh, and **freckafree** , yellowjackets (_Vespula spp._, _Dolichovespula spp._) all build paper nests, but _Vespula_ build them under ground. [/QUOTE] Dude, I soooo feel your pain. I got attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets a few years ago when I was working for the power company. I stood on their nest; they didn’t like that very much. I had my first ambulance ride that day. I had 30-40 large stings (greater than 1 inch diameter) and hundreds of smaller ones. They shot me so full of benadryl and epinephrine I felt like I was on a roller coaster. They also told me that if I got stung again any time in the next year to go to the hospital immediately, as my immune system might freak out. I still have nerve damage in one arm that got especially stung - it tingles sometimes. I still hate them little suckers. Kill 'em all!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941.md?page=4)