'Mosquito-pocalypse is in full effect': North Carolina hit by blood-sucking pest outbreak

[mfcorey1]

Cassie Vadovsky returned home after picking up her 4-year-old daughter from school Tuesday evening and was greeted by a swarm of blood-thirsty mosquitos.

Not just any mosquitos. Aggressive, monstrous pests with stripes on their legs.

“It was like a flurry — like it was snowing mosquitos,” the stay-at-home mother of two said. “I think my car agitated them. I waited for them to calm down before I grabbed the kids and the ran into the house.”

Vadovsky is just one of the many people in North Carolina who is fighting against a monster mosquito outbreak, the result of flooding caused by Hurricane Florence.

“It didn’t hit automatically. It was more gradual. It took maybe 3 or 4 days after the storm passed before it got to this epidemic level.” Vadovsky said. “And I’m not even on the side of town that had the major flooding. Imagine how bad it could be over on that end.”

Mosquito experts say that floodwaters can cause eggs that would have otherwise laid dormant for over a year to hatch – sending billions of the vicious parasites into the air.

The ones plaguing the Carolinas are called "Gallinippers," or "Psorophora ciliata," according to entomologist Michael Waldvogel of North Carolina State University (NCSU). This species that can be three times as large as average mosquitoes and the larvae are known to prey on aquatic animals that are as large as tadpoles. The females grow up to feed on large mammals, humans included.

“There’s 61 species of mosquitoes in North Carolina and of those, probably 15 to 20 would be highly responsive to floodwaters in this way,” said Michael Reiskind, Associate Professor of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at NCSU. “When you have major flooding, a lot of these eggs hatch and you can see rapid population growth.”

Just how much growth?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/%e2%80%98mosquito-pocalypse-is-in-full-effect%e2%80%99-north-carolina-hit-by-blood-sucking-pest-outbreak/ar-BBNGEH2?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

[underpants]

1. Ugh

Sounds like a mess.

Growing up near the water in Va I can tell you that mosquitoes are no joke. Every afternoon we'd be out playing and we see the yellow orange lights in the trees as the "mosquito man" drove through the neighborhood dispensing whatever the hell it was they sprayed. We'd all hightail it into the closest house and wait.

[angstlessk]

4. Back in the 50, we, too had spray trucks..our dog died

from drinking what we called mosquito water which was poisoned water to kill mosquitoes.

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. ...

[eppur_se_muova]

3. They already control both houses ... nt

[angstlessk]

5. Misery on top of misery on top of misery, those poor people.

Not sure how many dead yet, cause of kavanaugh!

[smirkymonkey]

6. Those poor people. That would be my biggest nightmare.

I HATE mosquitoes! I would never leave the house.

[pretzel4gore]

7. I used to be a fishing guide

on Rainy lake in the 60's. the tourists (we called them 'the guests') sometimes came to dockhouse when I was cleaning the day's catch, and massive clouds of MsQU2s would be there...the guests marvelled that anyone could stand it. Lightbulb and dark, warm night abuzzing. You'd have loved it (!!) Anyway, the Scos never bit me. I no idea why, but, maybe it was true about 1st nations people having a arrangement with mosquito nation- we leave em alone, and they us!

[smirkymonkey]

8. Wow, that's amazing that you could sit there like that and not get bit or bothered!

I grew up in Upstate NY around a lot of lakes and we had our share of mosquitoes and black flies (horrible bites). I took it in stride as a kid, but I have been a city person almost all of my adult life where there have been no mosquitoes, so now when I go back home or go to visit someone who lives in a more rural area I can barely stand to go outside, especially at night. It's so noticeable to me in contrast to the bugless city!

[pretzel4gore]

9. i did get bit!

i recall been driven crazy by bite on hand, skin between fingers- i scratched til bleedy! but at night no bites! Only in daylight! it's still a mystery 50 years later
fyi....I recall as a teen being taught how to clean fish, mainly bass, walleye and Pike....the weight taken, then the clean fillets wrapped and weighed. The rule was 1/2 of live weight for fillets, and that was no bones!

[Blue_true]

15. I read that diet and body chemistry makes a difference.

They love biting me. People that love, love bananas are less likely to be bothered by them, they hate some of the B vitamins in bananas and can smell it from a distance away.

[Wounded Bear]

10. Yep, all that water is breeding ground for insects...

Best wishes for the Carolinas.

[Princess Turandot]

11. Yikes. They're hefty critters...

[dembotoz]

12. Wisconsin was nailed just before now

We just had a freeze last night that should wipe out a bunch of em .
Cold weather is good for some things

[ProudLib72]

13. My uncle died a couple years ago from a mosquito bite

West Nile encephalitis. He'd been bitten playing golf in Arlington, TX.

There is good reason to freak out over mosquitoes!

[dalton99a]

14. .