Mosquito Control Working To Calm The Season's Spike

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With all the rain we had last week, you'd expect a spike in mosquitoes. But the mosquito control folks are doing their best to keep them in check.

Fighting mosquitoes is a hands-on job for Mosquito Control's Amy Spitzmueller.

On Tuesday, Spitzmueller was checking catch basins and dumping treatment pellets in the wet ones to keep mosquitoes from growing.

"We're getting a lot of customer calls and people are calling and asking us to spray," said Spitzmueller.

They've been busy since last week's rain, but this week's heat means Mosquito Control is still in control.

"We've gone through quite a bit of our ordinary summer time budget, but that's not terribly unusual," said worker Mike McLean.

When budgets get tight, they focus on the inner metro, with its bigger population, but should be fine for the peak season near the 4th of July.

"We really want to be out there controlling those mosquitoes and making people comfortable. That's really the bottom line, comfort and safety," said McLean.

Safety is a bigger priority in August, when West Nile and other disease carriers tend to thrive.

"Some of those old mosquitoes that have been successful, those are the ones that are capable of spreading disease. So, you want to stay on top of those mosquitoes as the summer progresses," said McLean.

If you're wondering how effective those sprays and pellets are, mosquito control says they kill about 75 percent of all mosquitoes.