The buzzing of a drone or…

A peaceful evening on the wetlands…with a beautiful sunset turning the grasses to gold and the sky above distant mountains a wild, vibrant medley or color. The twilight sky begins to darken so that the stars are revealed and the earth seems to hush in anticipation of the rising moon. Oh, wait, it’s not quite hushed. I’m pretty sure that I hear a tiny buzzing sound. Then another and more… Oh, no! They are here!  And if there is even one in a mile range, it will find me! Yes, mosquitos!!! Only people who are super attractive to mosquitos can really understand the horror caused by the tiny whining and buzzing!  Family and friends like to sit by me because I’m such a mosquito magnet; a distinction that I wish wasn’t mine to own.

So, I’m grateful every year, when the wetlands are treated with biological larvicides to inhibit the hatching of mosquito eggs into larvae which will grow into adult biting mosquitos. Oh, I know that some of you are probably thinking that any treatment is not safe, but these treatments do not harm beneficial insects such as bees, nor does it harm fish, wildlife, pets, or humans and is used for only a couple of months. What it does is to cut down the mosquito population.

By dramatically reducing the mosquito population, the treatment helps reduce the transmission and spread of West Nile Virus and two other types of encephalitis found in the local area. While most people do not get sick or die from WNV, it does happen to people and other animals and is more frequently fatal for birds and horses. Also, mosquitos just make it horribly unpleasant to be outside for many of us. Studies have shown that some people are just naturally appealing to mosquitos due to hormonal make up, so that no amount of natural preventatives are effective (and who wants to be covered in deet insect repellant every day).

The mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world. World Mosquito Program

There it is. I feel like cheering when I see the huge drones dropping larvicide pellets on the wetland, not only lessening health hazards, but making summer mornings and evenings a pleasure to treasure!  May your summer evenings be blessed by the lack of mosquitos and the abundance of family and friends!

Among the diseases caused by the mosquito, insomnia... should not be omitted.

“Poor Richard Junior's Philosophy," The Saturday Evening Post, 1903