Trimming limbs with pruning shears along shooting lanes yesterday. Heard humming noise as I cut thru a small limb. About the time the limb dropped I saw the soccer ball-sized hornet nest about 4 feet from my head. I could not turn fast enough to keep my legs under me as my legs were already in high gear. About 6 or 8 hornets dive bombed me and bounced off my head, face, and back as I went down hard. I came up as fast as I went down. I wasnt stung....why not?...I do not know! I think that me falling dropped their target and gave me the escape I needed.....but I dam sure aint re-testing that theory.

My son, who was trimmimg limbs about 30 yds away thought ol'Dad had stepped on a snake...thought all this was funny...

I bet your heart is still pumping.....lol

Good survival and evasion tactics. Bet you are glad.

Heart is ok....but my 56 year old right knee took it hard.

I will try and remember that rapid drop down escape method if there is ever a next time.

I floated the Fox River one time out of Seney,Michigan fishing for brook trout.
The first bend that I came to, there was a low hanging Branch
I watch my friend go around it and I thought I can fit under it. As I went under it I saw a basketball size Bald Faced Hornet just above the water as I went under the low-hanging Branch I was eyeball-to-eyeball to 3 guard Hornets !eyeball to eyebal....l I was just happy I made it out of there alive

Bald faced tend to head butt first before stinging. Europeans go straight to sting. Both are extremely slow to react compared to yellow jackets.

I had that in the opposite of you , with the same heart stopping feeling.

A friend and I were riding her endurance horses in very rugged terrain here , and on a choked in trail bushwhacking, she was ahead of me. A branch with a baldie nest at it's end had somehow been bent down till it was actually on the ground , with the baldies angry and looking way up at the giant beasties walking towards them , to either step right on them or over. I didn't see that nest as she was in front or I would have done everything to stop and demand we turn around...no matter how narrow and difficult that trail opening was. By the time I saw it , her horse had stepped right over it and there I was , my horse a step away from doing the same. As my heart stopped, ( I am allergic to hornet stings), I just let my good seasoned champion see that and cautiously and slowly step over it too, each foot moving with the slowness of a Ti Chi master . The frozen readiness of those hornets looking up at us is burned in my mind....and to my shock, they didn't fly out in defense.

Usually baldies attack way before you even get to the nest...what was a horrible situation turned out peacefully...to my great appreciation.

The amazing horse I was riding was instrumental in saving us both, he was among the best horse I have ever worked with ..that is saying a lot for the hundreds I have ridden in life.

Baldies really scare me and I always look far ahead in the bush to hopefully see them .

My brother is allergic to bald faced hornets. He gets all puffy and has to take steroids.

Thats what they did...head butted me. They were bouncing off of me.

Last yellow jacket nest I disturbed came boiling over a stockade fence I just threw a branch over, never knew it was there, 3 stings before I saw them, ran as fast as an ol guy could...fell, thought I broke a hip, staggered up, being stung every foot to the house.

was two weeks before I ventured to that side of the yard again.....

A friend of mine almost died from a yellow jacket that stung him on the tongue. He was watching some people shooting trap. He was eating a hamburger at the time. He didn't notice the yellow jacket that had landed on his burger while he took a bite. His tongue swelled blocking his airway. Lucky for him, an EMT happened to be in the audience and was instrumental in saving his life.

How horrible. People also need to be careful with pop cans , etc. Cover them when they aren't drinking from them.

Can't stand hornets...they kill honeybees ...my favourite insect.

I've been nailed by them a couple times. And yes the hurt like the dickens

Gotta carry an EpiPen with me all the time. Lots of people including me go into anaphylaxis with a sting. Can't stand them hornets. I keep honey bees and have only been stung a few times in thirty some years. Friends think its crazy for me to keep them but they are usually gentle bees that just want to go about their business. Worst thing you can do with any bee is swat at it. I do love that honey though

Honey bees can only sting you once, then they die as the barbed stinger stays in you.
Hornets, on the other hand can sting you many times.

My son showed me one this weekend when they were mowing around their duck pond...big ole nest!

I had a huge nest down by my woodpile a couple years ago. Never knew it until the leaves fell off in the fall.

I would say you were lucky, I give em room if I see em first, a friend of mine got ate up recently bushogging. I have never found a low hanging one