You can tell May has arrived in Saginaw County. The mosquito abatement team is conducting its annual tire drop-off campaign.
"They collect water and then mosquitoes start breeding in them causing the mosquito population to rise," said Zachary Plank from the Saginaw County Mosquito Abatement Commission. "Pretty much anything left in your yard like tires, buckets, anything that collects water, mosquitoes will eventually breed in there.
The team will be at the St. Charles Township Hall on Tuesday and at the Albee Township Community Center on Wednesday. They only accept tires from Saginaw County residents.
"Each customer can bring in 10 tires. We range anywhere from small car tires to medium-size tractor tires."
"We're looking at a pretty good mosquito season," Mark Lucero from Rose Pest Control said.
Rose Pest Control has a mosquito abatement contract with Grand Blanc Township. They have set up 14 live traps to measure the size of the mosquito population. "They're positioned throughout the township so we can get an accurate count for the whole area."
This trap's got a count of one so far. That doesn't sound threatening, but dipping this container in swamp water shows potential problems.
"There could be 10,000 mosquitoes back there ready to mature," Lucero said.
Scattering larvacide in the water will set the skeeters back for a while.
Rose has a truck-mounted fogger to kill adult mosquitoes. They use this at night. To get into the hard-to-reach areas, they have a backpack-mounted unit that's used to walk into woods or swamps.
From all appearances, this summer could make you feel like a pin cushion.
