OREGON -- Anyone who's been outside knows how bad the problem can be. We're in the middle of one of the worst mosquito infestations that many of us can remember. They don't seem to care who you are, where you are, or what you're doing -- they're just interested in biting.
Thursday was a perfect night for soccer practice in Oregon. Or was it? Even typical summer fun can be hard to enjoy when mosquitos are biting so frequently. "The kids can tolerate a lot, the adults more or less no we can't," said Tracey Dippman, a mosquito victim. "Usually we have a lot of bonfires and even the fires don't even seem to keep them away. They are really bad this year, terrible."
At Pearson Metropark, a park ranger says this year is different. "I have been here for almost 29 years and usually they start [biting] in the evening," said Park Ranger Greg Pollauf. "But now from the morning noon and night they are biting all during the day which is different from past years."
The Metroparks' Director of Natural Resources, John Jaeger, tells us it's a banner year for mosquitos. And it will be at least three weeks or until the first frost, for them to begin to fade away. "We have a scenario here where we have warmer weather and we had late summer rains, really heavy rains," said Jaeger. "It's optimal mosquito breeding that's taking place."
There have been no human cases of West Nile Virus in northwestern Ohio, but health departments are keeping an eye on infected mosquitoes they found.
Count on News 11 to follow this story as it develops.
