All the rain in the last few days brings with it problems. Maybe one problem you haven’t thought about is mosquitoes.
That’s what comes with heavy rains and high water in the summertime. If you live near the coast or water there could be helicopters flying over your house this weekend. More than likely it will be Lee County Mosquito Control.
Preliminary tests found that recent rains are making it necessary to bring out the artillery against mosquitoes. “Once the water hatches those eggs and they turn into a feeding larval stage that’s when we try to get them,” says Shelly Redovan.
They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors usually during May, but not this year, not until now. “We’ve taken quite a bit of rainfall and on top of that we also had some tidal activity,” said Redovan. “The storm kind of helped push the tides in over the burhms and so we’ve got quite a bit of water in our coastal areas and we’re seeing some around the residential areas.”
Over the weekend they’ll bring out these former Vietnam War helicopters that have been restored. “We’re going to have six helicopters out tomorrow and they’ll go out to a salt marsh, land and get out and look to see if there is larvae hatching off and if there are then they’ll come back and treat that,” added Redovan.
Lee County Mosquito Control has numerous aircraft specially designed with different kinds of sprayers. “They’re going to be putting out 300 gallons per flight and they can do thousands of acres,” Redovan said. They mostly fly over water and when they spot signs that mosquitoes are there, they drop down low and dump liquid chemicals on the insects. “Mosquitoes can be in pretty much any water habitat with the exception of moving water or water that’s been treated such as chlorine or bleach something like that,” said Redovan.