Are Murder Hornets Still Around?

They’re still heeeeeere! Murder hornets have not left.

According to the New York Post hornets are spreading south with a newly confirmed sighting in Washington state in June. Folks there have put out more than 1,000 traps in hopes of catching them since reports of the hornet arriving in the US for the first time surfaced this spring.

A giant queen murder hornet was found last month on a woman’s porch in Bellingham, 15 miles south of Custer. This is where the deadly hornets were first spotted, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Bag it, Tag it

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has plans to trap and tag worker hornets in order to follow them to nests. Then they kill the buggers with pesticides.

“They are strong fliers so they can spread very far distances if they want to,” said Karla Salp who works at the WSDA. “The biggest risk to humans would be if you stepped in a nest and were stung multiple times, and they nest in the ground, so it’s easier to miss.”

There have been four other confirmed sightings of the murder hornet in Washington state. Other reports have come from farther up north in British Columbia.

No Confirmed Sightings in US Outside of Washington

Salp said her department is getting reports of the hornet from all over the country. None have been confirmed outside of Washington state.

If you get stung by one of these you won’t necessarily die. But it will hurt like you’ve been dipped in molten lava. Japanese officials say about 50 people die a year there from the hornet. Usually, people who die get stung by more than one.

“The best thing people can do is to learn how to properly identify them and report them,” Salp said.

And how to kill them quickly, I assume.

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