I can see this happening. The only way to tell if there's a nest in the ground is to see the "air traffic." Wasps can get upset if you're too close to the nest, especially if they're dealing with natural enemies.

When my daughter was about four or five, there was a nest in the ground right below the swing she was on. She was stung on the toe -- she was wearing open-toe sandals. It just occurred to me that if she were wearing regular sneakers, the wasps would've went for her eyes. So she was lucky to get the warning shot in an expendable body part.

Our poor dog once pooped on a nest. He got stung three times that I know of; me, once.