Mosquitoes Swarming the Treasure Valley
If you've already been bitten by mosquitoes this year, it comes to no surprise. We have more mosquitoes than normal in Treasure Valley this season. Here's what you need to know to keep yourself safe.
I thought the mosquitoes must be bad this year when my daughter came home from gymnastics yesterday with a HUGE mosquito bite on her leg. She hadn't been camping or even out late at night so I thought, "Wow, the mosquitos are out already?!" Don't even get me started on when her father took her on a fishing trip and she came back with over 40 mosquito bites! This Mama was mad!
This year's wet spring and now warm temperatures have created the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. According to an article on KTVB, the rule of thumb is generally the wetter and the warmer the weather is, the more mosquitos we will see.
Mosquito season runs from now until September, but one tidbit I was happy to discover is that just because we have more mosquitos than normal this season does not mean we have a greater risk of West Nile Virus.
Adam Schroeder, Director of the Weed and Pest Abatement District, says
West Nile is always dependent on how many Culex mosquitos we catch. So far that has been a very small percentage of the mosquitos we have caught but that could change at any time and West Nile comes in very unpredictably.
Abatement crews are already at work killing mosquito larva and adult mosquitos but what can you do?
- remove stagnant water around your home
- wear long sleeves
- wear light-colored clothing
- use a mosquito repellent with DEET.