"I've never been stung, actually," I replied.
Ian swore. Not an unusual occurrence, but a particularly vehement example. "Well, let's make sure we grab a wasp kit, then."
Wasp kits here are lightweight packs of antihistamine cream, a couple bandages, an inhaler, and vials of adrenaline. No epinephrine pens for us: if you go into anaphylaxis in the field, someone will be snapping open a glass ampule and shooting you up with a syringe they filled themselves.
I like to think that, if I were in such dire straits, I wouldn't care.
So far, so good. I'm more than halfway through my stay in New Zealand, and through much of the most treacherous part (from a wasp perspective), and no one in my field team has yet been stung. We're quite proud of the fact, but we knock on wood every day.
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| Looking up at the Mountain Beech canopy. We mostly don't do this, since it's easier to avoid stepping into wasp nests (dug into the ground) when you're actually looking down at where your feet are going. |
