Yellow jackets are serious nuisance pests that plague many areas in late summer and fall. They are often most aggressive later in the summer, but it's best to avoid them at all times as they will fiercely defend their nests.

Yellow Jacket are half-inch long wasps, with black and yellow or white markings. They live in papery gray nests, either suspended above ground in vegetation or buried below ground. Their nests, like the volleyball-sized one pictured at the right, have only one opening but can contain over a thousand workers with a single queen. Workers are attracted to meat and sugary items, which they carry back to the nest to share with others.