yellow jackets (off topic)

[Liz Day]

> They are aggressive when you are very close to 
> the nest (big surprise).  On the other hand they are very inoffensive when visit you 
> at your sandwich.  

I have not run into the nest aggressive response, although I have
disturbed a couple of nests.  I dug near one (into it??) and quit when I
saw YJs start flying around; no stings.  I also thumped a garden tool very
hard on the ground on a nest entrance (by mistake of course) and got only
one sting, the rest continued flying in and out undisturbed.  Is this
normal?  ???  They don't seem to care if you're *near* their nest.  

The bugs with hair-trigger responses are paper wasps - all I have to do to
get stung is to approach a (small) nest too closely (3-4 feet).  When I
see them turning their heads to look at me, I know I'm in trouble, even if
I never disturb them or make any fast movements.

Do other people find these wasps much more aggressive than yellow jackets? 
Or have I just been lucky?

Liz Day