PHOTO: Mosquitoes forced the recent Gulargambone Christmas Markets to move into the local hall.
THE LATEST plague to arrive in the district is a familiar one – the mosquitoes are back in town, and they’re bigger and bitier than ever.
With recent heavy rainfall and flooding affecting large parts of the region, the abundant bodies of water have served as a perfect breeding ground for the insects.
University of Sydney Entomologist Dr Cameron Webb said as a result, residents can expect some of the largest mosquito populations seen locally in recent years.
“The more water you get, the more mosquitoes you get – as the weather warms up we’re also expecting mosquitoes to be increasing over the coming weeks,” Dr Webb said.
Mozzies move events indoors
The swarms of mozzies, along with a recent influx of biting midges – commonly known as sandflies – have resulted in local outdoor events having to change venues or being called off entirely.
Gulargambone café manager Nic Morris, who held her Christmas Markets on Wednesday 8 December said in the end the insects were simply too much to hold them outside.
“They were unbearable so we went over to the Memorial Hall,” Mrs Morris said.
“They’re just ruining everything – I cannot get the key in the lock in our front door without being attacked. It’s definitely been a while since they’ve been this bad – I do remember 2000 being a season where it was also quite wet and horrible.”
Like many businesses, Mrs Morris has made sure there is plentiful supply of repellant in her café, purchased several citronella candles and coils and set up more tables inside.
Meanwhile, a live music event on Saturday 11 December which was scheduled to be filmed at one of the local pubs in Coonamble was postponed for similar reasons.
“Considering our gig (the other) weekend was going to be outdoors, (the infestation of mosquitoes and sandflies) makes it all unworkable,” the band said in a social media post.
“You can imagine how disappointed we are and we apologise profusely for this unplanned postponement, especially to our friends and fans who planned to travel to attend the gig.”
Insects put bite on care providers
THE increased presence of mosquitoes and sandflies in the area means the return of itchy arms and legs.
Studies from the CSIRO have found that it is only the female mosquito that feesd on blood, which is needed to nourish their developing eggs, while more generally feeding on nectar and plant fluids.
Blood feeding brings with it an irritated bite on the skin and the chance of being contaminated with a disease carried by mosquitoes, the most common of which are Ross River and Barma Forest Virus.
Local organisations taking care of more vulnerable residents, such as young children and the elderly, have been doing their best to minimise their time around the insects.
The Koonambil aged care facility have been doing their daily activities earlier in the day and ensuring a plentiful supply of repellent is available for staff and residents.
The SmartKids child care centre has also been keeping children inside as much as possible to protect them during the day.
Director Fiona O’Malley said she thought the sandflies have been more resistant to repellent than mosquitoes, but both were equally troublesome for the children.
“The mosquitoes are just huge right now – they could pick you up and take you away – and I don’t think I’ve ever seen sandflies this bad,” Ms O’Malley said.
“Half of the kids are coming in with terrible bites because they’re being smashed at home as well as here. A lot of them are having reactions to the bites on their faces. We ask parents to put stuff on before they come in and we just take it from there.”
St Brigids teacher Pam Storer said the school still makes the safety of their students a high priority.
“The majority of our students were coming to school with repellent already on – we also have it available in classrooms and with teachers who are on playground duty and are encouraging students to use it,” Mrs Storer said. “We do have one or two children who do have an allergy to the typical Aerogard spray so we can’t use it on them – I think some bring their own from home as well.”
“The mosquitoes tend to attack some people more than others and impact individuals in different ways. While bites for me are usually on my elbows and ankles, I’ve seen some children’s legs covered in them.”
Mrs Storer recalled similar outbreaks after flooding in 2000, 2010 and 2016, which brought other pests from worms to crickets.
She said the swarms were “just another plague to add to the list” and showed the resilience of people in the bush.
Not just the people…
WHEN it comes to blood-sucking, mosquitos don’t discriminate between species and pet owners have also been working to ensure their animals are similarly protected.
Gulargambone’s Nic Morris said she spent an afternoon attempting to give some of her animals repellent.
“I was all over the paddock trying to cover my horse in Aeroguard – I’ve also been spraying my horse, dogs and sheep with stuff I got from the vet, they were not very happy,” she said with a laugh.
According to local vet Kylie Parry, animals with hair, like dogs, horses and cattle are typically more vulnerable to getting bitten than their furry counterparts.
She said mozzie bites are just as annoying for animals as they are to their owners, and, just like for humans, don’t typically require professional medical attention.
“It’s really that they’re just a source of gross irritation – we typically see little red welts and bites all over their tummies – which isn’t really something that requires vet intervention,” Mrs Parry said.
Mosquitoes can be so annoying they interfere with animals eating and they do have the potential to transmit diseases between animals.
“Mosquitoes can carry heartworm disease – if a dog has heartworm and is bitten by a mosquito, this transfers the larval heartworm to the next dog they bite into the bloodstream,” she said.
“(Heartworm) is not really prevalent here but when our mosquito population goes up, our local dogs are at an increased risk.”
When it comes to repelling the mosquitoes, there are insecticides and sprays purpose-made for animals.
“There is a spot-on insecticide which is a fluid you can put on the back of your dog’s neck and that lasts for four weeks,” she said.
“There are also backline skin applications you can put on horses. However, the difficulty with a lot of these products is they are in short supply right now.”
Home-made repellent
While local residents experiment with personal repellents, Mrs Parry said she is aware of a similar mixture made of equal thirds of Dettol, baby oil and kerosene which could be used on animals but wished to remind people homemade repellents are unregulated.
“We call it flood spray – there’s not really anything in there that’s a repellent and is more about stopping insects from actually getting close to them,” Mrs Parry said.
“Everyone has their own ideas and trying to do something is better than doing nothing.”
“That said, if animals ingest it and they get sick, you don’t really have a leg to stand on.”