This past May, Anja Stiles was enjoying a walk around her neighborhood when she noticed a small yellow animal struggling in the middle of the road.
The lost insect was a wasp, and he clearly needed help.
“He was … about to get run over,” Stiles said in
a video. “I put him off the side of the road, and when I came back, he was still in the same spot.”
Stiles figured the wasp might need some water, so she tried to gently usher him onto a leaf. However, she quickly realized the insect preferred to be closer.
“He just wanted to crawl in my hand,” Stiles said.
The animal lover gamely welcomed the wasp onto her fingers. She offered him flowers, but he still wouldn’t budge. After multiple attempts without success, she brought him home, where she built a small enclosure complete with various water and food sources. Still, the wasp remained in his favorite place, nestled on her hand.
Hours later, Stiles canceled her plans — she’d be there for the wasp for as long as he needed.
“I might have to forgo all activities for the night to make sure this little guy just stays warm on my finger,” she said at the time.
The wasp remained on Stiles’ hand as she prepped dinner and watched TV. When night fell, the wasp crawled into the enclosure. In the morning, she was right back on Stiles’ fingers.
With help from insect experts, Stiles realized the wasp was actually a female. She fed her some blueberry juice, which the wasp gratefully drank, reviving her energy.
This time, when Stiles took the wasp outside, her demeanor seemed different. It seemed like she was ready to go.
Stiles raised her hand in the air, and the little wasp flew off, back into her wild home.
“She came back a few minutes later and buzzed around my head as if to thank me for helping her,” Stiles said.
