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Recent rainfall and standing water are causing a spike in mosquitoes in some parts of the metro as we head into the busy Fourth of July weekend.
This story was written by Alex Jokich and originally published by KSTP 5 Eyewitness News. The story appears in its entirety below.
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they are seeing elevated numbers in the Minnesota River Valley and river-flats areas of Bloomington, Burnsville and Eagan. Other parts of the metro currently have mosquito levels that are relatively typical for this time of year.
MMCD Communications Coordinator Mike McLean said some of the peskier species, like cattail mosquitoes, are starting to come out this week.
“They can really kind of spoil your picnic,” McLean said. “They’re large, aggressive mosquitoes and we do a lot of treatment to try to prevent those mosquitoes from emerging.”
On Wednesday, MMCD had five of their helicopters out treating water throughout the seven-county metro. McLean said they did some extra work in areas that will draw big Fourth of July crowds, such as places where big fireworks shows are planned.
MMCD has treated about 100,000 acres so far, McLean said. He added that despite the wet weather over the past week, the ongoing treatment services are helping keep mosquito populations manageable. They expect the bug populations to start dropping off soon.
