Health

Shock and Awe for Mosquitoes in Chicago

by mtippett | August 23, 2007 at 08:35 am

547 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment

I remember when I was tree planting in northern Ontario in the early 90's we had some pretty toxic bug dope. It used to melt our plastic hard hats and the pens we used would become oily and eroded. We tried to avoid touching it. It's pretty nasty stuff. That's why I always get worried when I see people spraying this stuff around like it's perfume. On the other hand, do you want your kid to die of a bug bite?

Fearing a spike in the number of mosquitoes potentially carrying the deadly West Nile virus, Chicago officials brought out the bug spray Tuesday, beginning a two-day campaign to kill the nasty insects.

Recent rains have spawned a bumper crop of mosquitoes, prompting several suburbs to start spraying last month to beat back the mosquitoes that gravitate toward and germinate in mucky, swampy areas.