Busy time fighting mosquitoes on SC’s south coast

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — Recent rain and breezy weather is making it hard to control mosquitoes along South Carolina’s south coast.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports (http://bit.ly/nGGOUi ) mosquito control officials are dealing with a huge number of salt marsh mosquitoes.

Beaufort County’s mosquito control director Gregg Hunt says his office has received 216 calls this month compared with 40 in September.

Recent rains and high tides have created fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Breezy weather prevents spraying because the insecticides miss the targeted areas. Hunt says with the highest tides of the year coming later this month, the itching season will continue through mid-November.

Things are better than last year. The mosquito control office has received 716 complaints this year. The number was over 1,000 for all of last year.

___

Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com