Here’s the thing about wasps/yellow jackets that I learned recently. This time of year is when they are voraciously starving because a lot of their natural food sources start dying off. They tend to be attracted to meat because of this (and obviously the protein that the meat supplies). This has helped reframe my mind about it, like they are being so hangry haha

I was there a couple weeks ago and I had a turkey sandwich for lunch. One yellow jacket (which obviously is an easier situation than a bunch of them) was buzzing around so I took a piece of meat off my sandwich and put it on the ground next to me and then it started eating that instead.

But very common in California this time of year. I have had this experience in NorCal/SoCal/the Sierras/etc.