Local News
Dry Weather = Fewer Mosquitoes
Pest control companies said they've seen a drop in the number of calls they've gotten to get rid of mosquitoes.
Posted — UpdatedHOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — Water restrictions might be a pain, but there is an upside to the dry weather – fewer mosquitoes.
Pest control companies said they've seen a drop in the number of calls they've gotten to get rid of mosquitoes. The main reason, they said, is because mosquitoes need standing water to breed and a lack of rainfall really hurts their numbers.
“At the same time, with less rain and the drought conditions, when it rains water tends to saturate a lot faster into the ground and tends to pond into puddling water,” said Mike Dinatale, with Triangle Pest Control.
Holly Springs resident Kari Melahn said her son is a mosquito magnet.
“It seems like my son has something sweet in his blood because he can come out, like last summer he went out without his shirt on one time and I forgot to put insect repellent on him,” Melahn said. “He came back with 30 or 40 on his back alone. It was horrible, and that has not happened, anything like that, this year.”
Pest control experts say mosquitoes only need a tiny bit of standing water. So you should always check areas like tarps, tires, or even children's toys laying in the backyard.
As for those shrinking numbers, the exterminators say they're typically getting about two to three calls a week from people who want their yards sprayed for mosquitoes. They say that's a far cry from what they had last year.
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