They're back. And they're hungry.
The wetlands of west Davis County are the breeding grounds for hordes of mosquitoes that hatch in the protected areas, then buzz into nearby neighborhoods to snack on residents, Mosquito Abatement District Manager Gary Hatch said Tuesday.Hatch told the Centerville City Council the district is getting calls and has started spraying, but the task is daunting. He predicted it will be a tough summer, with plentiful mosquitoes.
Hatch is the district's first full-time manager, hired in January 1993. He's been battling mosquitoes for 17 years, since he was 16 and a part-time summer worker in the Box Elder County abatement district, Hatch said.
Council members were gladdened to learn that Hatch has moved to Centerville, into what district board member Stan Green noted is "one of the most heavily infested areas of the city."
"Is that near my house?" asked Mayor Priscilla Todd, hoping for some extra spray sorties by the district's truck-mounted fogger.
Hatch said control efforts are complicated and the days of laying in a stock of DDT at the beginning of summer and spraying everything in sight are long gone.
Federal regulations governing pesticide use are complicated and boost the price; wetland preservation regulations and restrictions on control measures the district can use in the Farmington Bay Wildlife Refuge also hamper their efforts, Hatch said.
And, with a flying range of 10 to 15 miles, a mosquito's range is such that there's little an individual homeowner can do to control the pests, he said.
Citronella candles may keep them away during a backyard barbecue, Hatch said, "if you can stand the smell."
As for the popular electronic zap-pers, "they do kill a few. But they also attract them. The joke is the thing to do with a bug zapper is to buy one and give it to your neighbor to use," Hatch said.
The piles of dead bugs that build up under the zappers will contain only about 10 percent mosquitoes, Hatch said.
One effective control method the district uses is a small fish, the gambusia. Aggressive feeders on mosquito larvae, the fish do well in decorative ponds and yard fountains, Hatch said.
Hatch noted there are 40 species of mosquitoes native to Utah, of which 15 are found along the Wasatch Front. Most have a lifespan of seven to 10 days, he said, but millions of eggs are in the marshes, waiting to hatch.