Lethbridge spared big mosquito problem, so far
LETHBRIDGE – Following a winter that went on forever, we might be seeing a silver lining this summer in the form of fewer mosquitoes.
Ron Esau, mosquito technician for the city’s parks department, had feared the excessive snow would lead to a lot of standing water for mosquito eggs to hatch in.
“Most surprisingly, all that snow, it really melted. It soaked into the ground. A lot of it just evaporated. So, it’s actually been surprisingly dry out,” he said. There hasn’t been a lot of rain since then to create puddles.
At the start of the year, the mosquitoes hatch from eggs that were laid by adults, potentially years ago, once they’re in water. Once one mosquito gets a blood meal, it will lay as many as 200 eggs a week later, and that cycle goes on. That’s why it’s important to attack the mosquito population early.