Wasp Warning

Numbers are up, and hikers need to be prepared

Screen shot from Petr Lebedev's Sea to Sky Wasp Watch site.

Lions Bay Search and Rescue (LBSAR) member Maria Masiar wants hikers to be on the alert for wasp nests on the trails, and to be prepared if the worst should happen.

"Search and Rescue teams have been getting reports of stings since May this year," Masiar said. "It was a warm winter, which meant more queens survived, which has meant more and larger colonies along hiking trails."

Masiar notes that local wasps are often aggressive. "Their nests are often hidden beneath roots, rocks, logs, or vegetation beside the trail. You may not see the nest until you accidentally step near it, triggering dozens of wasps to defend their colony. Unlike bees, these yellow-jackets can sting repeatedly."

And with so many more of them around this year, it's important for hikers to be ready to deal with stings while they are on the hike.

Last Saturday, Lions Bay Hiking Club founding member Trudi Luethy was stung at least ten times near the entrance to the trail that bears her name. Luckily club members hiking with her had antihistamines available, and Luethy was treated by her fellow hikers on the spot before heading home to recover.

Masiar says she recently assisted a North Shore Rescue (NSR) colleague who was stung more than 20 times while on a rescue near Mount Seymour. "He was not allergic, thankfully, but the sheer volume of that amount of venom in his system meant that he was dizzy and nauseous, and could no longer continue assisting on the rescue."

Signs of anaphylaxis include localized swelling or hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of lips, tongue or throat and dizziness. Any or all of these can indicate the onset of a medical emergency.

Masiar suggests including a non-drowsy antihistamine such as Claritin or Reactine in hiker first aid kits, along with 1% hydrocortisone cream to reduce itching and basic pain medication such as Advil or Tylenol.

And she reminds hikers not to forget their dogs are equally vulnerable to wasp stings. "Hiking dogs are often super curious, and with the digging and sniffing they do, the dogs are often the first to disturb the wasp nests on the trail."

Masiar notes that dogs are family members, and should be treated as such on a hike, with sufficient water on hand, and extra care taken to avoid wasps. She says that all the local SAR helicopters are equipped with harnesses in case a dog requires evacuation with its owner, but like with people, some dogs are more comfortable with the rescue experience than others.

Earlier this year, Squamish resident Petr Lebedev created the Sea to Sky Wasp Watch, an online map that tracks wasp nests throughout the Sea to Sky corridor as far north as Whistler, and south throughout the Lower Mainland.

Lebedev says he's wanted to take on the project for years, and was inspired to do so as a way to help a friend who is a trail runner and is very allergic to wasps. He's been surprised by how his project has taken off, and says he's spending more time moderating the site than he'd planned.

"But I feel so heartened that people are using it, and reporting the wasp nests, and doing what they can to keep others in their communities safe," he says. "It feels very nice, and restores a lot of hope in humanity."

Lebedev says that he's hoping one of the big hiking app companies will take on the project, as he would like to see it spread beyond the Sea to Sky and throughout Canada.

He notes the map is intended only a "community heads-up", and that nests often appear faster than they can be reported and logged. Like Masiar, his advice is for hikers to "please carry your EpiPens, look out for one another, and stay alert out there."

Find (and contribute to) the Sea to Sky Wasp Watch map HERE.

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