Flooding, gloomy weather and constant rain have created the perfect conditions for a mosquito invasion, pushing the province to brace for an influx of the pesky bugs.
At Derby Reach Park in Langley, campsites remain flooded by the Fraser River, but the mosquitoes haven’t showed up yet.
“As the river goes down, the standing water’s going to warm up, and warmer water is better for mosquito larvae development,” Scott McMahon of Culex Environmental told CTV News.
Staff at Culex Environmental are checking mosquito larvae at 300 sites around Metro Vancouver in hopes of stopping bugs before they start biting.
To manage the population, pest control companies launch their attacks from the ground and from the air. Helicopters are loaded with repellent that targets and kills mosquitoes in the larval stage. But the timing has to be just right.
“The eggs don’t eat and the pupae don’t eat. So if you treat when they’re not there or when they’re pupae, it’s too late or too early. So you got to make sure that they’re at the right stage to eat the larvicide,” McMahon said.
Even people who don’t live next door to a flooded aren’t necessarily out of the woods. Mosquitoes can fly more then 10 kilometres from where they hatch.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Julia Foy
