Toxic death cap mushrooms are popping up in Oak Bay, prompting a warning from the municipality.
Around 600 to 700 of the mushrooms have been found and disposed of so far this summer, said Chris Hyde-Lay, Oak Bay’s manager of park services.
“We are seeing a slow spread through the district,” he said.
Recent rain has spurred their growth. Last year, a similar warning from Oak Bay about the mushrooms was sent out in June.
Death caps can be difficult to distinguish from edible mushroom varieties, Hyde-Lay said. “They’re probably the deadliest mushroom in the world, I would suspect.”
Island Health medical health officer Dr. Dee Hoyano said people shouldn’t pick mushrooms unless they have expertise in identifying them.
Death cap mushrooms have a pale, yellowish colour with a large cap and skirting underneath. They can be deadly if ingested, especially for children, and are also dangerous for pets.
A three-year-old Victoria boy died in 2016 after eating food prepared using the mushrooms, which had been collected from a boulevard.
In 2003, an Oak Bay resident became very ill from eating death cap mushrooms after mistaking them for puffballs.
Up to 30 per cent of people who eat a death cap mushroom will die, and some will require a liver transplant, Island Health said.
Hoyano said symptoms can be delayed, with nausea and vomiting not happening for about eight to 12 hours after eating.
Those symptoms can disappear after about 24 hours, but liver or kidney damage can set in after three to six days.
If you suspect that you or someone you know has consumed a poisonous mushroom, go to the nearest hospital, call 911 or the B.C. Drug and Poison Information Centre at 1-800-567-8911, and keep a sample of the mushroom so it can be tested, Oak Bay’s online notice advises.
The mushrooms can show up on lawns, parks and other locations around the capital region. Native to Europe, they arrived in the area about 50 years ago attached to the roots of imported ornamental European hardwoods.
They typically grow under such imported trees as beech, chestnut and red oak, but have also adapted to pine and Garry oak.
“They just form this symbiotic relationship where the mushroom takes what it needs from the tree, and in turns gives the tree an opportunity to absorb other nutrients from the soil,” Hyde-Lay said.
The mushrooms have been seen as far north as Courtenay, as well as in the Lower Mainland.
Anyone who sees death cap mushrooms and wants to dispose of them should wear rubber gloves to handle them and then wash their hands thoroughly afterward.
Put them in the garbage rather than in a compost or food-recycling bin.
Avoiding unnecessary lawn watering will help keep them under control.
