From the Missoulian today – Signs Point to Pesky Mosquito Season in Western Montana –
Water – too much of it in too many places we wish it wasn’t – is the problem right now.
Guess what comes next?
Mosquitoes.
Like the water, there could be more than we’re accustomed to, for longer than we’re used to it.
“In a normal year, the first week of June is usually when we hit our high-water point and back-pools fill,” says Missoula County extension agent Jerry Marks. “They need still water and warmer temperatures to lay their eggs, and it’s 10 to 14 days after that we see our first hoard of mosquitoes.”
The cool, wet weather this year has delayed that.
But once it comes, there could be another flood, this one of the pesky insect.
“We’re going to have more pools of water scattered everywhere, and I think we’ll see a higher number” of mosquitoes, Marks says. “My guess is they’ll last longer this year.”
Once floodwaters begin to recede and stagnant pools are left behind, breeding mosquitoes will have many more prime places to lay their eggs.
Most, state health officials said this week, will just be a nuisance.
But some can carry viruses, the most common being the West Nile virus.
“It’s hard at this time to predict if West Nile or other mosquito-borne virus infections will be higher than average in Montana this year,” says Anna Whiting Sorrell, director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. “The best advice for all Montanans is to focus on avoiding mosquito bites as soon as mosquitoes emerge.”
More at the Missoulian (link above).
