OREGON CITY, Ore. — The hot weather is partly to blame for a rise in the amount of yellow jackets we're seeing in our yards.
The hotter it gets, the more we tend to water the lawn or gardens and that water is what is attracting yellow jackets.
In Oregon City, Terry Musgrove and his wife Jamie spend hours in their backyard garden and Terry says he's seen an increase in the amount of yellow jackets, too.
"We've been living in this house for 30 years. This is the worst we've seen it," Terry Musgrove said.
Most years, he puts up about five yellow jacket traps around his property.
"This summer, we've got maybe 15," he said.
Finding those traps can be difficult. Homeowners are saying that stores are running out and the Wilco in Oregon City is no exception. Store shelves sit bare with a note saying that they have over sold their projection and suppliers can't meet their demand.
"We went to the store and found out there are none on the shelves. We went to BiMart, Fred Meyer, Wilco Farm store, and then we finally found some at Home Depot," Musgrove said. "The guy was just bringing out a lot of boxes, so it attracted a lot of people."
Yellow jackets actually serve some good. They eat bugs and caterpillars that like to feed on the foods we grow.
"We're trying to study up on yellow jackets now, past summers we've just tried to ignore them," Musgrove said.