Swamplot Archives by Tag:
September 4, 2008 – 9:17 am
“. . . while Baytonians might feel like the mosquitoes are out in droves, Director of the Baytown Health Department, Mike Lester, said what we’re really seeing is a return to ‘normal.’ ‘For the last couple of years we’ve been really fortunate that the weather has been good to us,’ he said. ‘Even though people might think it’s bad right now, the pest rate is between five and 20 landings per minute, which is average for this time of year.’ Lester explained that there are generally three peak ‘hatch-outs’ during the 11-month Gulf Coast mosquito season: May, August and November. During those months, mosquitoes hatch and mature, infesting Baytonian air for a few weeks before they give way to the next generation of larvae.” Why isn’t this kind of report a regular feature? [Baytown Sun]
Read more about: 77520, 77521, Baytown, Hazards, Mosquitoes
August 20, 2008 – 12:52 pm
The Yellow and Black Garden Spider, proud builders of those zig-zaggy webs, “preys upon Houston’s least-favorite insects, including wasps and mosquitoes, but are completely harmless to humans. Its cousin, the Spiny-Backed Orb Weaver . . . is also a dutiful and helpful one-spider pest-control squad, and is even more recognizable.” [Houstonist]
Read more about: Critters, Mosquitoes
“Our garden has a number of areas with standing water, prime mosquito breeding ground. In six years of gardening there, I have never been bitten by a mosquito. I don’t know of any other place in Houston, with the possible exception of being in the back of a convertible going 60 miles per hour down I-10, where I can make the same claim.” [Urban Harvest, in the Houston Chronicle]
Read more about: Critters, Gardening, Green Design, Mosquitoes
What’s that buzzing you’ve been hearing outside since last night? Why, just the sporting folks from Harris County Mosquito Control, spreading good cheer and an insecticide called dibrom throughout the northern parts of the city:
At an airfield in Sugar Land, health officials Wednesday evening loaded three small airplanes with more than 3,150 pounds per gallon of insecticide as they prepared to fly over portions of northwest and northeast Harris County throughout the night.
The county began spraying by truck in the spring, and the planes allow officials to strike larger areas and parts of the county that are less accessible by vehicles.
The airplane spraying that began this week is earlier in the “season” than usual. West Nile virus was first identified in area mosquitoes in 2002. Director Rudy Bueno tells the Chronicle that a recent upsurge in West Nile virus in captured mosquitoes
is unusual because areas with West Nile often experience a decrease in the virus two or three years after it is detected. “It is not common,” he said. “However (Harris County) is in a much warmer area, and changes in the weather pattern are part of the reason for increase.”
Ah, it’s our warm and welcoming climate that’s brought it on! More airplane fun tonight, over a tiny 265,200-acre section of north Harris County.
Read more about: Mosquitoes, Public Health
