TLDR: Looking for reliable exterminators in Winston-Salem that can take care of a large hornets nest (south part of town).
The full story if you are interested: This morning I went out to pull some weeds in the yard/garden area, and went out the back deck sliding-door with the dogs to let them into the pen from the rear gate (which we rarely use). When I opened and shut the gate, from under the old elevated wooden deck, right next to the gate of the chain link fence swarmed these large dark insects. I backed away about 15'-20' and watched them a second, and got a close look when one landed on my leg and bit me ☹️. Painful, but fortunately I was never allergic to bee stings, and apparently (and very fortunately) am not allergic to these either. Three hours later, still no swelling, but hurts a bit.
Looking under the deck from a safe distance I saw a paper-grey hive with a single opening at the bottom... roughly the size of a not-quite-spherical volleyball.
From a distance, I sprayed it with what was left of a can of raid, which was not much, and I only got the side a tad, so very much a useless effort there...
I looked these things up: black, a bit thicker than a wasp, with what appeared like white markings (it was a pretty brief close-up view as I swatted it away from where it bit me on the leg).
From pictures online, I am *fairly* certain they are: "Bald-faced Hornets" (Dolichovespula maculata).
I WAS going to try to get more Raid tomorrow (currently labor day when I am writing this, so I am sure everything is closed) and soak and deal with this myself... but, I am reading that is not recommended (although, maybe I am just a wuss?).
What I am looking for are recommendations for a professional exterminator that can come out and take care of them this week, and maybe to a quick walk around the property to verify there are no other hives. I am not looking for a monthly service or anything, since technically we are renting (from a friend of the family, so I want to just get this taken care of for them), and hopefully wont be here longer than a few more months.
Obviously, no one is open today, but hopefully I can be in contact with someone tomorrow.
*Oh, for those concerned, the dogs were not bitten/stung, but they'll be doing their business in the front yard on leashes until this is taken care of.❤️