NEW FRANKLIN -- We all loved the mild winter, but it may come back to bite us -- literally!
Experts predict this could be a brutal mosquito season.
They're out there... already lurking. Mosquito season is here. The bloodsuckers started showing up in March.
WKYC Photojournalist Carl "Big Daddy" Bachtel checked the situation in Summit County.
In Summit County, they're ready. Terry Tuttle, Environmental Health Director for the health department, says they were seeing larvae in March. "It's the earliest I've ever seen them."
Tuttle says the cool April slowed them down, but they're still out there. He continued, "all they need is warm temperatures and water. If we get a rain event in June, there will be more mosquitoes this year."
In the southern half of Summit County, they have Mother Nature helping control the bugs. The Portage Lakes Purple Martin Association, along with help from local Boy Scouts, has been placing nesting poles since 2000.
They started with one pole of 12 gourds and now have 35 poles. That's 620 nesting pairs. Larry Hunter founded the group. "I remember those days thirty years ago and you couldn't even go outside in the Summer.
Now, it's great, and it's all because of the birds."
In Summit County, you have a mosquito problem in your neighborhood, you can contact the local health department's website. Click the "Environmental Health" section.
To learn more about purple martins, you can attend the Buckeye Martin Fest. It takes place June 30 along the shores of North Reservoir at Portage Lakes.
WKYC-TV