Mosquitoes invade after flooding rain creates fertile breeding ground
LAKELAND, Fla. (FOX 13) - If you’re swatting, itchy, and annoyed, you’re not alone.
Hordes of mosquitos have hatched across the Bay Area after about a week of seemingly constant rain has filled every open orifice with water.
Dr. Carl Boohene, the director of Polk County Mosquito Control, is even a bit overwhelmed by the size and scope of the attack.
“Over the past couple of weeks, we have had some of the largest amount of mosquitos come out of our traps,” he told FOX 13. “We had one trap that had 30,000 mosquitos, in one trap, one night!”
To put that in perspective, this time of year, a trap might catch 400 to 500 in one night.
Mother nature is to blame for aspects of this mosquito boom. Water is where these creatures breed, hatch, and prosper, and we've had no shortage of water.
Rain has also curtailed efforts to try and keep numbers down.
“Thunderstorms, the winds are high, so we couldn’t do anything,” said Boohene, like spraying from the air. “The conditions were just not conducive for us to do anything.”
We asked if the peak of the season is over.
“I hope so,” responded Boohene. “I couldn’t imagine it getting any worse than this.”
However, it could if we get another spate of storms.
In the meantime, experts say it's extra important this year to heed age-old advice: Spray yourself with a repellant containing DEET when you go outside, try to avoid being outside when mosquitos are most active - during dusk and dawn, and empty anything on your property with standing water.