Gay Balfour's Dog-Gone vacuum service (in Colorado!) works during the day.
Posted on 08/02/2016 11:13:19 AM PDT by John Conlin
Where have all the mosquitoes gone?
What is the mosquito population in your neck-of-the-woods?
OK all you conspiracy buffs put on your tin-foil hats and let’s take a mental stroll. This entire summer I have noted a surprising decrease in the number of mosquitoes. My parents live right along the South Platte and their pasture (birthplace every spring of TENS OF THOUSANDS of tadpoles) was filled with water most of the spring. I’ve known the area well for over 50 years.
They always have mosquitoes. LOTS of mosquitoes. And with this spring, normally the mosquito population would be way above average (and trust me, average is pretty bad).
Yet this summer the mosquito population is WAY down. Way down. I live in a SW suburb of Denver… mosquito population WAY down. You can sit out all evening and never be bothered by even a single one.
So what natural process could be driving this? Or perhaps it is not a natural process?
Perhaps the government is far more concerned about the Zika virus than they are letting on? Perhaps the government has taken pro-active measures in an attempt to minimize the spread of Zika?
When the West Nile virus first popped up, some hypothesized it was a test done by some nefarious player to see how a mosquito-borne virus would/could spread and potentially be used as a weapon.
So one would hope the government would have some type of plan(s) in place to deal with a mosquito-borne virus that presented a threat to the population of the US.
Did the government implement one of these plans in an attempt to control/limit the Zika transmission across the country? If they can keep the lid on it that good ol’ thing called winter will come along and put a halt to it for at least a number of months.
They would of course have to do this in secrecy. There is no way they could do so out in the open. Here in Colorado you see this type of thing with our good friend the prairie dog. If you have the misfortune of needing to get rid of a town of prairie dogs, good luck. You do so late at night (and cities/counties do this quite often) and the town just isn’t there the next day.
Otherwise you will end up fighting a small but zealous band of prairie dog supporters who will make your life miserable. In the People’s Republic of Boulder, they spend huge amounts of money to re-locate prairie dogs… all while decrying the lack of funds for schools, roads, etc. It is also always lost on them that there is already a functioning eco-system wherever they plan to dump the prairie dogs; their actions causing tremendous disruption. But of course they won’t be around to see this and they can feel good about themselves because of what wonderful people they are via “saving” these specific prairie dogs.
So the feds would have no choice but to do this on the sly.
So are the feds actively suppressing the mosquito population to both slow the spread of Zika and to learn about the effectiveness of such actions in preparation for an attack by a weaponized mosquito-borne virus?
But before we can take off our tin-foil hats, we need as Sherlock Holmes would say… more data.
So wherever you might live… how would you rate the mosquito population in your area versus historical numbers and what you might expect?
I have no idea whether the above is true or whether I even believe it… I just know there is a truly amazing decrease in our mosquito population in a year with a very wet spring. That ain’t the way it works here in Colorado.
Along with the bumblebees.
Northeast United States here
Not just Mosquitoes, but there were very few Junebugs this year.
Usually June/ early July I put my fish on a Junebug diet, they love the extra protein, but this year there were none throughout June and a just a few in the 1st couple of days in July.
The Cicadas are coming out normally
Zika is a disease transmitted by persons who already got it through living in third world countries. It IS transmittable. In other words, illegal/transplanted aliens who have never gone through REQUIRED health checks, as per immigration laws. immigration system is Not broke, just ignored by our government.
Mosquitos need standing water to hatch. In our little corner of Wisconsin, we have had little rain, so therefore little standing water.. We have fewer mosquitos than some years. We just took a vacation to northern WI where they have had copious amounts of rain. Their mosquitos were out in full force!
Have a variety of plants and leave the outdoor lights off.
They haven’t left the Bayou City as far as I can tell.
Never see many here in central CA. Mosquito’s and tornado’s are things I don’t miss about Kansas.
I am looking for the bumble bees and butterflies I don’t see much of them in NEPA. We have been bitten up by mosquitoes though.
Central TX has very few mosquitoes, but we are making up for it with an abundance of wasps at the present time. They are trying to build nests everywhere, so we are making our rounds with the spray because a family member is allergic to their stings.
That is a good question. My house has the development storm retention pond behind it and prior summers I’ve had lots of mosquito bites. I had a couple in the spring but none since.
And, in years past lots of bullfrogs. They are gone too.
Their all right here in southwest Michigan.
They are alive and well in Southern IL.
Any day now I expect to see notices posted that they are spraying for mosquitoes, and a ghostly white mist will travel about 20 feet from the dispensing truck and do nothing at all to dispel the hordes of skeeters here. The Accuweather report for mosquitoes here is "10. Extreme." Haha. My neighbors and I didn't need Accuweather to tell us that. Ten minutes out in the garden or on the porch gives you that.
I imagine AfterBite stock is doing well here.
Where have all the skeeters gone,
And where are all the fleas?
Where’s the little no-see-um,
To bite a Hercules?
It’s our(MN) state bird and they’re alive and well. I have the bites all over my legs to prove it.
Normal number here and a few with West Nile.
Very few skeeters here in Southern Oregon, whereas in past years there were tons.
Still have a lot of bees, though.
Ed
No shortage of woodland critters/bugs/snakes/birds etc. around my property in Central Missouri.
The skeeter population is way down though, which I attribute to filling the slough hole down by the creek with dirt. They don’t have much opportunity for breeding that’s within flying distance of my house.
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