CCTV Captures Aftermath of Man Running Over Hornets’ Nest With Lawn Mower

A man who was casually mowing his lawn when he was suddenly attacked by a swarm of hornets managed to see the funny side when he realized it had all been caught on camera.

Kevin Wille, 35, from Missouri, was tackling his lawn after putting it off for “longer than I’m proud to admit” but he had to cut it short when he suddenly began getting stung from all sides.

While hornet stings are painful and the experience must have been frightening, Wille told Newsweek: “If I made even a fraction of the people who watched me run over a hornets’ nest laugh, or have even a slightly better day, then it was worth it.”

Wille shared a video of the moment cameras on his home caught the hornet attack to Reddit’s r/funny sub on August 22; it racked up over 24,000 likes, and within days, the clip had over 4.5 million views.

It shows Wille dutifully pushing a mower around his yard, when he suddenly stops and grabs his leg, looking around in bewilderment. However, he carries on and takes a few more steps.

Seconds later, his arms start flailing and he realizes what’s happening. He instantly takes off sprinting, running to the other side of the house, with the camera following him until he has vanished from view.

Wille, who had “no idea” the hornets were in his yard, said when he was first stung, he “thought my mower had kicked up a rock that hit me in the leg, but it turns out they were trying to warn me.”

“By the time I realized what was actually happening, my fight or flight reaction kicked in, in what turned out to be a pretty hilarious reaction,” Wille added.

He shared the video to Reddit through his account u/kwkevin287 and under the title “I ran over a wasps’ nest,” but told Newsweek he later learned they were ground hornets.

Ground hornets are close relatives of yellow jackets, and can create underground nests up to 10 inches deep, according to Pinnacle Pest Control. While not as aggressive as other species, they can unleash a painful sting if they feel threatened.

Wille turned his painful experience into something positive when he realized it had been caught on his home security camera. He watched it “20 times” before sharing it with friends on Snapchat.

“The overwhelming response from some friends was to ‘post it’ and so I did,” Wille said.

On Reddit, where he wrote in a caption that he was stung seven times, users were left in bits, with one writing: “THIS. MEANS. WAR.”

“They say the mower is still going to this day,” another posted, while one commenter added that they “flinched the moment you started running.”

Others shared their own stories, with one writing they previously ran over “several ant hills without noticing until they were all over me and biting.”

And one comment read: “I was 15 and hit a yellow jacket nest. Felt like I was on fire. I ran inside and jumped in the shower. They were under my shirt and jeans as I stripped under the freezing water.”

Network technician Wille said he had always had a fear of a snake popping up and biting him while mowing the lawn but never expected to be attacked by ground hornets. He was overwhelmed by the huge reaction to his video.

“I never expected a response like I got,” Wille said, referring to the millions of views as “the biggest number I’ve ever personally been associated with.”

He added: “I would not recommend trying this at home.”

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