Are mosquitoes driving you mad? (From This is The West Country)

Are mosquitoes driving you mad?

6:00am Friday 21st September 2012 in Somerset By Daniel Milligan

IT'S not a case of what goes bump in the night these days but more like what goes buzz.

Hundreds of thousands of midges and mosquitoes have hit homes in our county and for one couple it has made their life very uncomfortable.

Bernie Perkins, 61, and his wife, Suzie, 59, say in the 20 years they have lived at their Langport home, the mosquitoes have never been as bad.

The couple, who also keep bees on their land, said: “You have to keep all the windows and doors closed – it can get quite uncomfortable, especially when it gets hot outside.”

Bernie added: “My wife got so badly bitten she had to go to the doctor and be on antibiotics; her sister needed to go to hospital for her bites.

“I only have to touch some of my hedges and a cloud of them will come out – there must be thousands of them.

“We are hoping the colder nights and colder weather will start to kill off some of them.”

But why have there been so many of the flying critters?

Mike Rigby, head of climate consultancy Original Carbon, said the problem is connected to the heavy rainfall we had in summer and pockets of water left around your house and garden.

He added: “They breed in standing water, not flowing, so you need to eliminate these areas – clear your gutters and pockets of water in your garden.

“If you have a water butt, try putting some vegetable oil on the surface of the water as insects don’t like this.”

Dr Caroline Gamlin, Director of Public Health for Somerset, said: “In the countryside wear suitable footwear, and loose fitting trousers covering the ankles.

“Insects will often be most active in the early morning and late evening so keeping arms and legs covered with light, loose fitting clothing at these times will reduce the risk of bites. There have been no recorded cases of a person being infected with malaria as a result of receiving a mosquito bite on the Somerset Levels.”

If you’ve been affected by the mosquito invasion, leave a comment below.