Standing Water Could Produce Big Mosquito Population

DIAS CREEK — There are puddles, ponds and wet backyards all over the county which should please the spring crop of mosquitoes whom are no doubt planning to have large families to pesters residents and visitors alike.
“At this point we are just trying to move as much water off the surface of the county as we possibly can,” said County Mosquito Commission Director Peter Bosak.
He said that entails ditch cleaning and jetting out clogged pipes with the county facilities and services. Any standing water that remains for a period of time has the potential for being a mosquito producing area.
In areas where water cannot be drained, mosquito control will check the standing water for larvae, said Bosak. When resident calls, an inspector can be sent to check standing water, he said.
“If larvae are present, then we will treat the water for the larvae, if no larvae are present, we don’t treat it,” said Bosak.
He said he was concerned about the county experiencing a bumper crop of mosquitoes.
“I’m concerned because the water is sitting and the temperatures are rising,” said Bosak. “We have found mosquito larvae pretty much everywhere.”
The Mosquito Commission has a small crew and has had to deal with budget cuts, he said.
“We can only do so much with what we have, so we are really trying to stay ahead of the larvae that are out there,” said Bosak.
Crews have been applying a naturally occurring bacterial pesticide by truck.
“I have never seen it this wet and I have talked to the old timers,” said Bosak. “No one has seen this kind of water sitting around.”
He said he was hopeful if the county does not get substantial rain that trees will suck up a lot of standing water as they begin to leaf. If rain continues, the county could face a much greater population of mosquitoes than normal, said Bosak.
At this time, there are mosquitoes in all stages of development. He said some mosquitoes survive through the winter as adults and will start biting immediately.
Bosak said there were many eggs that survived the winter and they have hatched and are swimming around as larvae. He said they are the early spring species and are generally found in more rural areas.
This year with standing water in many locations, including the middle of Court House, the early spring species of mosquitoes have the potential to be in contact with a lot more people.
“We’re not looking at any disease situation right now,” said Bosak. “We’re really looking at nuisance mosquitoes.”
A large spring frog population will not wipe out the healthy mosquito population. He said tadpoles will eat mosquito larvae but do not make much of a dent in the population.
Short of a Biblical plague of adult Dragonflies and Damselflies, which eat mosquitoes, Bosak said he didn’t see a natural cure for a mosquito population boom.
Residents who have water nearby that has been standing for five to seven days may call the Mosquito Commission at (609) 465-9038 to have an inspector assess the situation. Bosak said he wants to limit the amount of adult mosquitoes that get into the air because it is a much more difficult situation requiring the spraying of pesticides into the air.
“We really don’t like to do that,” he said.
Bosak said the Mosquito Commission likes to use methods that are environmentally friendly and natural as possible.