Video: West Point Spraying for Mosquitoes

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WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) — North Mississippi has seen a lot of rain these past few days, and more rain could mean more mosquitoes.

The city of West Point is using a truck that sprays environmentally friendly insect repellent to cut down on them.

“This one is a misting machine,” said Randy Jones, chief administrative officer. “It compresses the mixture, and it sprays it in a really fine mist, kind’ve like hairspray, and because of its small size, it can stay airborne for awhile.”

Henry Eley spends 10 hours almost every night driving West Point streets, spraying for mosquitoes.

The hours are long, but he loves it.

“I don’t want to have nobody around here sick and everything,” Eley said. “We’ve got a nice town here, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“We make the extra effort in the walking parks and the sporting event areas,” Jones said.

Even though North Mississippi has seen a lot of rain these past few days, Jones says it isn’t as bad you might think.

“The best part about these afternoon thunderstorms, and the bright sunshine like we’re having now, it actually precludes the water from standing for a long enough period of time for the mosquitoes to have a productive life cycle,” Jones said.

For that standing water, instead of spraying with the truck, they use a chemical treatment called larvicide, which kills the mosquito larva.

Jones says the rain also keeps the mosquitoes from flying around, so fewer people get bites.

“When the rain is over with, that’s when I start back spraying,” Eley said.

And Eley will continue to spray throughout the city until early fall.

If you plan to be outside in the early morning, late afternoon or early evening when there tend to be more mosquitoes, Jones says to use bug spray, or wear long sleeves and pants.

Categories: Local News

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