I will defend the wasps. Most are harmless, many perform vital duties like pollination and pest control (they parasitize hornworms in the garden for example), and even species with reputations for being angry will only be angry if you get near or destroy their homes. And who wouldn’t?

I spent the last month pressing apples for cider and almost immediately this activity attracts fleets of yellow jackets. But as long as you don’t smoosh any they won’t sting and are quite friendly. I will even grab them out of the cider bucket with my bare hands if they fall in, and set them down to dry off with no risk. They’re kind of like cats in a way, curious and a bit moody, again though, as long as you don’t start messing around with their nests