Chased by a Hornet While Running in Woods

Yesterday I ran on a wooded trail in Duke Forest. It was dusk, and the sun was setting. I had been running for about an hour, when a large black wasp started chasing me. I tried brushing it away, but it persisted. I tried running faster, but it kept up with me. I ran all out for about a half mile, and it was still following me. It kept following me from behind, then coming around to the front and diving at my shirt.

I had eaten a Gu gel pack a while back, and put the empty wrapper in my pocket. I thought maybe the wasp was attracted to the sweet smell of the Gu, so I took it out of my pocket and threw it on the ground. I hate littering, but hated the idea of getting stung even more! It didn’t help…the damn thing kept coming at me. This chase persisted for at least a mile. Finally I started hitting at it with my water bottle while running as fast as I could. That seemed to do the trick.

I think it was a Bald Faced Hornet. Thank goodness I didn’t get stung. I was stung by a hornet before, and it hurt like hell.