Summer arrived Tuesday, meaning it won”t be long before the season”s peskiest denizens — mosquitoes — make their appearance as well. It”s an annual battle that”s already bugging the Caledonia aldermen; they started discussing the issue several weeks ago.
It used to be simple: As soon as their phones rang with complaints, they drove down to Jackson, bought some spray, poured it in the sprayer and dealt with the problem.
Sometimes Mayor George Gerhart did the spraying himself. Sometimes they hired someone. And therein lies this year”s problem: Finding someone who has both the certifications and the vehicle to do the job.
Terry Farrish, who lives in Caledonia, has the credentials — a two-day certification class required by the state health department — thanks to his job with the Lowndes County road department. But though he has sprayed for Caledonia during his off time for the past five years, this year he can”t. His truck”s air conditioner isn”t working, and health department rules forbid driving with the windows down while spraying.
At a recent Board of Aldermen meeting, Gerhart and Town Attorney Jeff Smith joked about plunking the sprayer in the back of a truck and doing it themselves, but they weren”t serious. Ethics laws would prevent that.
They can joke now, while dry conditions are keeping the mosquitoes at bay, but both know that once the winged pests begin showing up at backyard barbecues, it will be no laughing matter.
At the moment, 40 gallons — $3,800 worth — of Anvil 2+2 pesticide are sitting in Caledonia, waiting. Once the town finds someone to spray, they”ll make the rounds of the 3.5 square miles of the town limits twice a week, most likely on Friday and Monday nights.
Lowndes County Road Department Manager Ronnie Burns said he used to include Caledonia in his route, but he stopped when the town bought a sprayer of its own.
“We spray in all the rural towns,” he said. “The only reason we quit is they bought their own machine. Caledonia just kind of took it on their own.”
If the county resumes spraying for Caledonia, the coverage won”t be as much or as frequent as if they do it themselves, he admitted.
“We”ll be glad to spray, but we can”t spray every night,” Burns said.
The county hasn”t started spraying either, mainly because they haven”t received any calls yet, Burns added. When they do begin, they will spray three nights a week from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. On average, he said, the county uses four to six gallons of Anvil 2+2 per week.
“If it”s bad enough, we”ll spray every day,” Burns said. “Several years ago, we sprayed four nights a week, three hours a night.”
Burns said he mainly tries to hit trouble spots like Officers Lake Road and other places where water tends to stand, making a breeding ground for mosquitoes. “Donuts,” or pesticide-laced dunks, are also placed in water to kill mosquito larvae.
He said while some people will call to complain they don”t spray enough, others call to ask them not to spray at all.
“We try not to spray when people are outside cooking, but most people are glad to see us,” he concluded.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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