Fueled by Minnesota’s soggy start to spring, mosquitos are appearing in high numbers not normally seen at this time of year.
And they are generating quite a bit of buzz and bites, particularly in the southwest, east and north metro.
Last Tuesday, the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) set a daily record when 315 people called, emailed or filled out an online form to make reports and comments about the tiny insects and, of course, complain.
Typically, the agency tasked with keeping the mosquito population down might hear from 100 people on a busy day, said MMCD spokesman Alex Carlson.
“People are noticing,” he said. “We are getting a lot of calls from hotspots.”
The heaviest concentrations of mosquitos have been in cities along and near the Minnesota River, such as Jordan, Chaska and Belle Plaine. Flood warnings are in place for the next few days along the Minnesota and the South Fork of the Crow River in that area, the National Weather Service said.
“Scott and Carver counties have been inundated,” Carlson said.
The pests also are out in full force in northern Anoka County communities of Linwood Township, Ham Lake and East Bethel. But they are perhaps thickest in the east metro.