I was at day pond state park. I wasn't paying attention and reached into the whole where the letter box was hiding. Instead of the box I grabbed a small snake. Scared me half to death.
He was very nice and didn't bite me.

Ohhhhhh my goodness!!!! That is my worst fear while letterboxing. I would not have stuck around long enough to see if it was nice or not!!!!!

Instead of the box I grabbed a small snake.

You're welcome!

He was very nice and didn't bite me.

He will be reprimanded and retrained!

Here in the Northeast I'll poke around with a stick if I can't see inside the hole, but you should have seen me letterboxing around Sedona, AZ. Mentally I was ready for a scorpion riding a diamondback carrying a switchblade when I reached into that hole.

We didn’t find him yesterday! Beautiful princess is sad she missed him. Though she found one on the trail today.

Yikes and eeeeuuuiiiii. I have visions of me stumbling on to a snake when I'm climbing around off trail, being startled and falling down a hill. LOL

I got bitten by a snake in Florida after reaching for a box....the Ranger asked if I was a letterboxer and gently reminded me I was supposed to use a stick first.

I responded rather angrily, "I used a stick and it woke the darned thing up ANGRY!!!"

He was very nice and didn't bite me.

He will be reprimanded and retrained!

This must have been the snake who was supposed to plant another Eevil letterbox last Friday, the 13^th.

But did you get the box? Lol

That made me laugh. Living in the desert for 12 years now and still in fear of a faceoff with the snakes and scorpions when outdoors

Bicycle Dave reached for a box he couldn't see and was stung by a wasp. We learned that lesson very quickly.

skootch and I were looking at a neighborhood little free library to hide a box in, and he got stung by a resident wasp there. We give wide berth to the little free libraries, now!

Thank you for your service.

-Tessie, who was at Day Pond the day after you were and probably found the same box.

He was very nice and didn't bite me.

He always was a well- mannered little guy

I've never found a snake in a hiding spot, but a few years ago, as I was following a clue along a trail, I heard a rustling in the tree I was walking under, followed by some crashing. I looked up in time to see a large rat snake hit the ground about 3 feet away from me and slither off. I about died from retroactive fright!

So now if you see me on a sunny day, out on the trail carrying an open umbrella, yeah, you'll understand...

Last year I planted a box 10 yards off trail, and heading back to the trail, stepped on an underground yellow jacket nest. I only took 1 sting, but my dogs yelped so musta got hit. Had to come back hours later solo to replant.

Had to come back hours later solo to replant.

Does that mean when you came back you moved the plant to a different location?

correct.

I had a similar experience but got stung 11 times. Yes, I could count each one. I was rescuing the Traveln Turtle's daughter from falling in the nest. I still had the letterbox in my hand and ran about a quarter of mile down the trail. My fellow boxers just stood there looking at me wondering what was happening. When they caught up with me there were still bees on me. They stripped me and shook out my clothes. what a sight! we still had 2 miles to go on our hike as we had just started. That letterbox got planted with the next one in the series. I wasnt going back. Of course I held onto it. I hadnt stamped it yet! I have another dramatic bee story but I will spare it for now. Anyone else have a story?

yikes! Very sorry for you, but happy at least that TT's daughter wasn't subjected to something much worse.

I stepped on a ground wasp nest at the last Live and Breathe. They started to swarm, but luckily for me I'd just heard the story of someone else doing the same thing a few weeks before and knew to run as soon as I heard the buzzing. I got stung about half a dozen times. Didn't get the box.

There's a letterbox planted in Ontario to honour that other person's experience:
https://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?boxId=237525

I live on 73 wooded acres. We have to deal with yellowjackets every year. They nest in holes in the ground and are very difficult to see until it's too late -- especially if you're pushing the lawn mower. They REALLY don't like the lawn mower!

Whenever we find a nest of them, we destroy it. Yeah, it's probably not environmentally responsible, but we don't care, we HATE yellowjackets! Bug spray has virtually no effect on those guys. Even the stuff made for wasps and hornets will only kill the ones you actually hit with the spray, it won't do anything to the nest. The ONLY way that works is to locate the nest, then come back after dark when all the yellowjackets have returned to it so they're all in there. Pour about a cup of gasoline into the hole and then cover it with an upside-down bucket. The next day you can collect the bucket, there are no yellowjackets left to sting you.

Growing up in Texas, people used to squirt lighter fluid on a nest and throw a match on it. It's a wonder no one burned their house and/or trees down. They did that with *all* nests.

Pour about a cup of gasoline into the hole

Oh dear no please don't do that. One gallon of gasoline can contaminate 1,000,000 gallons of drinking water. Gasoline is persistent, highly mobile, and very toxic. It doesn't stay in the soil like oil, but is washed deep into the groundwater when it rains, or nearby streams. Underground nests can be taken care of at night with wasp spray. Wasp/bee spray is highly toxic, but it does break down much faster compared to gasoline, which persists for decades.

I got stung by a couple of bees in my hair the day I went for my 1000th letterbox. I was at about box 998, and I wasn’t about to let a couple of bee stings in my head keep me from getting to 1000 boxes. So I called up a fellow letterboxer, invited myself over to her house briefly and had her pull the stingers out of my head so I could go on with my day. And yes I did get my 1000th letterbox that day.

BB

When I lived in FL last, I usually ran over the fire ant holes with the lawn mower and then run for dear life when my ankles were on fire from bites!

BB

I have one! Boxing outside Houston for a Pokemon series with my then maybe 10 yr old nephew. Looking for a box off the path and came back out empty handed through ground wasp nests that were on the undersides of the bush leaves. Only got stung twice but not pleasant. Luckily had first aid kit with Benadryl and ice pack in it. After that, called it a day and went home.

As for snakes, was putting a box back in Jessie Jones Park, north of Houston when I looked down and had a copperhead slithering between my feet. I just stood still for a minute and let his head move away from my leg before jumping out of the way. That one was pretty scary!

:(
NLW

It's easier to deal with fire ant bites. Just put bleach on them.

Jessie Jones Park, north of Houston when I looked down and had a copperhead slithering between my feet. I just stood still for a minute and let his head move away from my leg before jumping out of the way. That one was pretty scary!

Please tell me that was my Medusa plant. I want to take credit.

Yes that was yours my friend!

NLW