Campers in the Peace Country have been dealing with more unwanted dinner guests than usual. People have been reporting high numbers of wasps at parks and campgrounds run by the province and County of Grande Prairie.
County Parks and Recreation Manager Christine Rawlins says parks managers have seen a few more nests than normal. In particular, there seem to be more of the larger black and white wasps as well as the common yellow ones.
“It’s not impacting our parks operations in any way but we are monitoring the situation closely,” Rawlins explains.
It’s unknown exactly why there seem to be infestations, but Rawlins says the County thinks it could have something to do with the warmer spring temperatures earlier this year. She adds that the insects are reportedly getting more aggressive.
“We certainly encourage all of our park and campground attendees to make sure their food is covered whenever possible to just help offset the attractant whenever they can.”
The issue isn’t specific to one County campground. Wasps have also been spotted in higher numbers than usual at provincial campgrounds in the area.