MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — It's a nuisance for all of us: mosquitoes, and it is something we're certainly not strangers to here in Florida.
Recently, Martin County residents told NewsChannel 5 they've been overrun by insects lately.
“I mean you can really see," said Patty Knot of Jensen Beach, showing WPTV bug bites all over her leg. "I mean it’s really bad. Look, these are all mosquito bites from me going crazy, all of them. It’s nuts.”
An issue facing much of Martin County. Dawn Lynch posted to Facebook, asking if anyone else noticed the mosquitoes "being out of control."
"I’ve never had a problem in our area. They are small and definitely out for blood this season!" said Lynch via Facebook.
Over 40 people commented on her post, most of whom agreed.
"Many have told me it’s the norm, but I have been in the Jensen Beach area for seven years and have never experienced what we dealt with last week in the morning," Lynch told WPTV's Kate Hussey. "My neighbors said they could barely deal with walking their dogs or sit outside."
“I can’t sit out there, like even now I can’t hang out out here because I have noticed mosquitoes," added Knot.
“More so now than in the past?” asked Hussey.
"100 percent," said Knot.
WPTV's own photographer actually got bit himself while we were reporting on the story, and mother of two, Zoey Storey, said it's been plauging her and her kids.
“Hoards," said Storey, "a lot, we couldn’t even go in or out of my front of back doors without getting wrecked."
Storey also added the problem started up recently.
"Right when the rain started pretty much," said Storey.
Martin County Public Works Administrator, Kylie Yanchula, has a doctorate in mosquito studies, and said the county has seen a significant increase in salt marsh mosquitoes and complaints about them.
"We had a significant rainfall a couple weeks ago, and anytime you have a significant rainfall, you’re going to see a significant uptick in the mosquito population. We also had a drought for a while, so that increase was definitely due to that as well," said Yanchula.
Yanchula said because of the drought, and the erratic dumping of rain we had last week, this change is more drastic than the change in population we normally see.
"We see it go up and down with the rain, but this time we had all the rain at once so we did see that uptick and it happened quickly," said Yanchula.
Yanchula said Martin County Mosquito Control has taken several steps to combat the uptick. For one, they use predators or other natural repellants to try to deter the mosquitoes.
Yanchula also said they use larvicide, an insecticide that is specifically targeted against mosquito larvae, and adulticide, which kills adult mosquitoes.
Yanchula said they only spray adulticide when absolutely necessary, but said so far it has been effective.
“We’ve seen actually a 96% reduction [in salt marsh mosquitoes.]"
Yanchula said they'll continue monitoring the situation, especially as we enter the rainy season.
Something Knot and Storey were grateful for.
"I think they probably should," said Knot.
"Very helpful to have more spraying," said Storey.
Because, according to Knot, they may be small, but they are mighty.
"There’s so many of them. I've never seen anything like it," said Knot. "I was a little taken aback by it.”
Yanchula said if you feel like you have a lot of mosquitoes, there are things you can do to both prevent them and get rid of them.
For one, make sure you don't have any standing water. Just one tire can breed 1,000 mosquitoes.
Also, you can utilize household fans and safe bug sprays to keep the insects away.
You can also call the county to get someone to come evaluate your property. Identify problem areas that attract mosquitoes, and suggest solution, including Gambusia fish, which eat mosquitoes.
The county also has a tire drop off event this weekend, where you can drop off any tires to be recycled to avoid mosquitoes collecting in them.
The tire drive is at Jock Leighton Park on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
