An Asian giant hornet attacks a paper wasp nest at a home in Blaine, Wash. The Washington State Department of Agriculture identified the hornet Aug. 12 from a photo sent in by the resident.

Two Asian giant hornets gave the slip to the Washington State Department of Agriculture over the weekend, foiling an attempt to electronically track them to their nest in Whatcom County.

The department captured one hornet Aug. 12 and a second one Aug. 13 near Blaine, where a resident last week reported a hornet attacking a paper wasp nest, about a quarter mile from the border with Canada.

The department tied electronic devices to the hornets and released them Friday. The hornets hung out for a couple of hours before finally flying away, department spokeswoman Karla Salp said.

The hornets went into heavy vegetation, and their pursuers lost the signal, she said.

Efforts to pick up the signal resumed Saturday. The department found one electronic device, but the hornet was no longer attached. “The hornet got out of it,” Salp said.

The department was continuing to search for a signal from the second device Monday. The battery on the device should last about two weeks, Salp said.

The Asian giant hornet photographed by the Blaine-area resident was the first live sighting this year. The hornet was about two miles from where the department eradicated a nest last October.

Asian giant hornets, which prey on pollinators, were first spotted in North America in 2019 — in Whatcom County and across the border in British Columbia.

The state agriculture department and USDA are out to eradicate the pest.