CALGARY -- Enjoying the outdoors is a challenge right now for many Calgarians because they’re seeing more mosquitoes than usual - or at least it sure seems that way.
Integrated pest management technician Sarah Verdiel, with the City of Calgary Parks Department, typically looks for mosquito larvae and traps adult mosquitoes.
“(We're) getting a lot of calls from people who think the mosquitoes are out of control and for them they are,” said Verdiel. “But if you live along a part of the city where you usually see mosquitoes, they’re probably above average, maybe a little above.”
Verdiel says Calgarians living on the east side of the city typically see higher numbers of mosquitoes because of the large bodies of sitting water along Stoney Trail.
“At the beginning of June we ran an aerial mosquito program and that involves using helicopters to apply the larvae-side along the fringes of the city where we typically see the most mosquitoes,” said Verdiel.
The city doesn’t manage the adult population but rather has traps set up in various parts of the city to monitor the population year over year.
Danielle Gardiner has two children, 11-year-old Jessica, and Brayden who’s 8. The kids are constantly outside and have many mosquito bites to show for it.
“When we send them to the park it’s just covering them with the mosquito spray and then they can go for 10 minutes and then they have to come back and then it’s a shower immediately,” said Gardiner.
The city says Calgarians have changed their habits because of COVID 19. It says many people are staying close to home and visiting parks that they normally wouldn’t - and that‘s likely why they’re experiencing more mosquitoes.
Poulin Pest Control carries a mosquito fogger to control the pests in backyards. It typically sells a unit every couple years, but this spring it’s out of stock after selling the dozen they had at their headquarters.
“The best way to say it is people don’t want to have mosquitoes," said Taz Stuart ,Poulin’s entomologist. "They’re not used to mosquitoes in Calgary even though they’re present there - just not in nuisance numbers which you’re seeing currently,”
Stuart said there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Calgarians fed up with mosquitoes and that’s called winter.
The City of Calgary has more information about mosquito control: https://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/Planning-and-Operations/Pest-Management/Mosquitoes.aspx
