BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.,None — Brevard County is working to keep the massive mosquito population at bay after last weekend’s record amount of rain made new breeding grounds.
The breeding grounds are standing water, and they are everywhere throughout the county. This year, Brevard County Mosquito Control treated more acres for the insects than in 2009 and 2010 combined.
“I moved away to California for a year and when I came back it seemed like the mosquito population doubled,” said Brian Stephens, a Brevard County resident.
According to Mosquito Control, Stephens is right and in a few days a whole new generation of mosquitoes will emerge from last weekend's storm.
“It's almost like the fuse is lit before the fire cracker goes off,” said Peter Taylor of Brevard County Mosquito Control.
Mosquito Control has used larvacides to kill immature mosquitoes and introduced fish that feed on mosquito larvae. Brevard County is more than 1,000 square miles and Mosquito Control can’t treat everywhere.
“The water is so widespread, that it's almost impossible to be able to cover the whole area. Sometimes, you just have to wait until the adults emerge and treat the adults,” Taylor said.
Mosquito Control plans to do aerial spraying but first they must determine which areas get priority. The workers will count larvae and use other surveillance techniques to see how many mosquitoes are biting.
In the meantime, Mosquito Control said using bug spray will help repel the insects or try to avoid them all together.
WFTV
