By JAY MICHAEL, REPRESENTING THE BLSG MOSQUITO DISTRICT
Finally, in July, the weather turned and the rain subsided to a more normal level and the Otter Creek went back in its banks. For the month of July, the BLSG pursued the area’s mosquitoes both as larvae and adults. The larvae sampling continued for seven days in July collecting samples from 85 sites. The “dip counts” were low to zero in many sites, which was encouraging.
However, there were counts of 50 or more larvae, per dip, in two locations in Brandon and 20 or more larvae were found in Mud Pond in Leicester and Spring Pond in Brandon. Pomanville in Pittsford also had a larvae-count of 20-plus. These areas were hand-treated with larvicide, where reachable. Follow-up samplings were conducted showing the treatments to be successful.
Adult mosquitoes were active across the area. A total of 56 adult mosquito traps were inspected over 12 days in July. While many counts were low, on nine occasions various traps held anywhere from 190 to 830 mosquitoes. These are high readings implying substantial mosquito populations in the area and calling for spraying in those areas.
Areas with the highest readings in Brandon included Long Swamp Road, the Brandon/Sudbury line, and Syndicate Road. Counts on both the east and west sides of Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake were over 250 and called for action.
Spraying was done on 10 days in July, with each of the 16 routes visited at least once. The average route was sprayed twice during the month. The routes around the lakes region were sprayed on average 3.6 times.
As a reminder, you can check the BLSG website (www.BLSGmosquito.com) each day after 3 pm, under the Pubic Notice drop down tab, for a list of any spraying planned for that night.
