Mosquitoes have not been a real problem this year
Greetings from sunny downtown Matlacha & Pine Island. We are still doing kayak and canoe tours from our base camp in Matlacha throughout the summer, and no, mosquitoes have not been a problem. I would have to say in some years past it has been pretty bad, and you must have bug spray to spend a day on the water. (I still bring a pack of bug towelettes just in case.)
We were out the other day deep in the mangrove forest and it was hot, and it started to sprinkle, so we got out of the open and found shelter under a canapé of red mangroves.
Now being a tour guide and just sitting there waiting for the rain to let up can get booooring. So what to do? Pirate story time. Yes it was Jose Gaspar time.
Now here we are telling this story, it is hot and humid and guess what happens to me? Five folks on tour and who does this big mosquito decide to bite? Me! A quick swat and she is history, but not before she got a tasty meal of my blood. I have been lucky all year — not one bite, this was the first.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have had my share of bites before. Having lived in South Jersey and done a lot of paddling in the grasslands and pinelands, it gets to be something you can expect to happen. Mosquitoes are not new, they have been around many years. I can remember riding my bike when I was a kid behind the mosquito trucks with all the fog and thinking, “How cool is this?” All the kids would wait till he came to the shore, you could hear the truck from a mile away, then, yes, the large cloud of smoke behind it and other neighborhood kids racing in and out of the cloud. I now wonder how smart that move was? Our clothes smelled like kerosene, because that was what they used then to mix and disperse the chemicals that killed the bugs.
After the tour and on my way home up Burnt Store Road on my scooter, and with a large itchy lump on my neck, I saw a large tanker truck with “mosquito” on it, so I pulled out in to the field alongside the truck. Then out of the sky comes this chopper with long booms on each side. It landed and the field crew took a large hose and filled the chopper with mosquito spray from the tanker.
I wanted to interview the fellow that was there and get some info about the mosquito problem this year. He was Michael, an aerial inspector for the Lee County Mosquito Control District.
He was a very nice young man and I told him who I was and that I would like to know about the control district. He promptly told me he did not have time to provide an interview but I could call someone who would be happy to answer all my questions.
The name of the young lady was Miss Shelly Redovan, deputy director of education and communication.
I called Shelly and set up an appointment to see her. Her office was out a the Buckingham Army airfield, which is quite a historical place. It was used years ago as a gunnery training base. They would train gunners who would defend bombers, it was constructed in 1942 at a cost of $10 million. It had six runways, housed over 16,000 men and women, contained about 700 buildings and graduated over 48,000 aerial gunners. The base was closed in 1945.
I found the base with no problem (got to love the GPS) as I pulled up to the fenced-in area where I was greeted by a nice lady security officer. She asked who I was and she called ahead. I was directed to building and there I met a receptionist who said Miss Redovan would be down shortly.
I met Miss Shelly and we went to her office on the second floor. She is a very nice lady. I can see why she has this job. She most definitely had all the answers to my many questions.
The Lee County Mosquito Control District encompasses 98 percent of the county or about 1,000 square miles, which includes 56,000 acres of salt marsh mosquito breeding habitat.
After high tides or rain, these coastal habitats produce large numbers of aggressive salt marsh mosquitoes that can fly many miles and literally cover the county. Most of the coastal habitats are not accessible by vehicle and inspectors must use helicopters to gain access to these areas for inspection of and control the immature mosquito stages.
To fight this problem, Mosquito Control has 78 full-time workers and 21 part-time employees; two tanker trucks; two Bell 407 choppers with large booms on them to spray; six small 206s white with stripes; six Hueys; along with 5 DC-3s.
The basis for any Mosquito Control operation is surveillance and this is a daily procedure at Lee County. Aerial inspectors travel to most remote areas of the county via helicopter to check salt marsh habitats. Ground inspectors look for breeding habitats throughout the county and respond to service requests from you the public. In addition, trap trucks go out each evening and survey the entire county for adult mosquito activity and also measure rainfall. All of the results of these surveys are used to determine when and were to concentrate control activities.
Materials that are uses to control mosquito larvae are called larvicides and materials used to control the adults are called adulticides.
All mosquitoes have four stages of development — egg, larva, pupa and adult. Depending on the species, mosquito eggs are laid either directly on the water or on moist soil, like ditches, or tidal marshes.
Now here’s were you can help around the home — they lay eggs in discarded tires, bird baths, pet water dishes, clogged rain gutters, kayaks and canoes or anywhere water can collect. People are urged to empty the standing water or cover the items with a screen.
Both the male and female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar for energy. After mating only the female mosquito seeks a blood meal in order to obtain protein, which is needed for egg development.
Now check this out guys, the male dies shortly after mating — she must be one heck of a woman, love to die for. Now the female can survive for several weeks and produce two to four egg batches.
The male usually emerges from the pupa a day before the female, which is useful surveillance information, that lets us know when to expect an emergence of biting female mosquitoes.
I asked Miss Shelly what kind of spray do the field reps use? She said she likes 30 percent Deet; not higher as it is no more effective than the 30 percent. Spray it on your clothes and be sure to wash it off when you return home.
I would like to thank Miss Redovan for taking the time to talk to me and help with all the info for this story. I think Mosquito Control is doing a great job. I mean, just think how bad it would be without them. This surely is a paddlers’ paradise, even with a few bites, it could be a lot worse.
So next time you get a bite, think about all the great folks out there that are making it so that it was not a large swarm.
Well that’s it for now, get out there and paddle, enjoy this wonderful place we have right in our own back yard, and thanks for paddling with Mel the Guide.
For more info on Lee County Mosquito Control, go to the Web site: www.lcmcd.org.