This year, the state bird — the mosquito — has ruined countless outdoor events, barbeques, lawn-mowing sessions and any attempt to enjoy a calm, clear day outdoors.
Each morning and afternoon, upon leaving for work and coming home from work, I’ve had to run a 15-yard gauntlet, which I refer to as “mosquito alley.” It’s the short distance between a side door on our house to where I park my car in the driveway. Any sort of movement in that area stirs up the mosquitos that have been over-nighting on the shrubberies and by the time I’m opening my car door, it looks like there are 30 mosquitos bouncing off the doors and tires, trying to get inside the vehicle.
Back in June, Scientific American predicted that this year would be horrible for mosquitoes. Heath MacMillan, an assistant professor of biology at Carleton University, wrote that mosquitoes thrive in warm and wet conditions. We’ve had plenty of that. There have been near-record rainfall totals across the state since the spring and there’s been no shortage of heat and humidity.
Low-lying areas have been unable to properly drain. This has led to greater numbers of areas prime for mosquito reproduction.
Talking about mosquitoes is very much like talking about the weather. First off, since we’re in the Stateline area, there are always plenty of mosquitoes or black flies (some people call these “gnats”) that are a nuisance when people are outside. As MacMillan said in his article, you don’t have to be an entomologist to talk about mosquitoes. Just like you don’t have to be a meteorologist to talk about the weather. As humans living in this place, we’re accustomed to dealing with some drier years with moderate or even colder summers, during which mosquito populations are somewhat in check.
Paul Srubas wrote in the Green Bay Press-Gazette last week that not only has this year been horrible for mosquitoes, but the mosquito season is one of the longest the state’s had in ages. There has been a late-season hatch of mosquitoes. The later a hard frost comes, the longer mosquitoes will be a nuisance.
This past weekend, my son and I joined about a dozen friends in the Wisconsin Dells for a little camping and golf trip that we’ve done annually for the past 15 years. Last Thursday was hot, humid and there was little wind. The mosquitoes were so bad that despite layers of DEET-infused repellant, resistance seemed useless. Everyone went away with countless bites and welts. If the temperature hadn’t cooled down by Saturday, I doubt we would have golfed. It’s very hard to be paying attention to your golf ball on the tee when during your back swing you’ve got mosquitoes buzzing in your ears.
I’ve never been afraid to liberally spray on mosquito repellant. I think everyone has had an experience that even after they’ve applied it they wonder, “Is this stuff working?”
As Srubas reported, University of Wisconsin’s director of its insect diagnostic lab, P.J. Liesch, called this year’s mosquito population far out of the ordinary.
Liesch said due to the unusual rain patterns in the state, the mosquito season is lasting far longer than average. And as anyone who has spent time outside can attest, the ferocity with which the mosquitos are biting is incredible. I do not believe insects, such as mosquitoes, can behave with malice — that means they’re intending to hurt you — yet the walk to and from my vehicle each morning or afternoon has gotten on my nerves for a while. I’ve looked for puddles, or places where they could be reproducing along the house that has caused the hatch to be so bad. There’s no prime breeding area like that around the house.
However, I do think the fall pruning I do around the house will be significant. The less foliage for the little bugs to live in, the fewer there will be.
Mosquitoes, unfortunately, are excellent fliers and the source of their hatch may be five miles away, and they can still reach your porch or patio with little effort.
My favorite time of year is the fall, because after the first or second hard freeze, the mosquitoes and other nuisance bugs are gone. Also, the lawn stops growing so fast and the humidity drops. This past spring it felt like we went from winter to summer in about a week. I wish us all a very enjoyable fall season with plenty of time before the snow arrives to stay, and then being outdoors is a joy.
— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
