how do you make friends with yellowjackets? i tried to google this question and the results were 1. how to kill yellowjackets 2. the show Yellowjackets understands toxic best friends and, bizarrely, 3. Friends with benefits, how to make it work!
just treat them nicely (don’t approach too closely, use smooth and calm movements, keep a calm and level tone of voice) and give them space, maybe leave them some sweet fruit juice or meat scraps once in a while in an outside area you don’t spend much time in if you want. once they’ve learned that you won’t freak out and try to kill them, they’ll offer you the same politenesses back!
Familiarity is a big deal for yellowjackets, and all wasps. They recognize people. We’re not sure how, but at least some species can recognize each other’s facial patterns, so they might be telling human faces apart too. Or it might be smell, or movement, or a number of other things. But I have seen firsthand that the wasps in my eaves can distinguish my family from strangers. They straight-up attacked a maintenance man who tried to paint the house. I went up the same ladder in the same place and was only casually inspected, not attacked at all.
So yeah, they’ll get to know you. And any animal that can get to know you can become friendly with you. Their default is not aggression, but curiosity. They just need to learn that you are not a threat.
This Brazilian yatch shipwrecked near Ardley Cove, Antartica due to strong winds and stormy seas. The crew abandoned the ship and the water that washed over the ship froze, cracked its hull and sunk the yacht. It has since been salvaged.
