Here come the bugs. It was a warm winter in the southern half of Idaho. That means insects are emerging earlier and will have longer breeding seasons.
Jonathan Ross is with Gemtek Pest Control in Boise. He says calls for service are up 40 percent this month over a year ago.
“And if we look at the last 5 or 6 years it’s really higher than it’s been any of those years.”
Ross says he’s already getting calls for ants in people’s homes. But he’s especially worried about a possible banner year for flying, stinging insects.
“Like wasps, yellow jackets, mud daubers. They tend to be a problem year-in and year-out, but to have started to even see them this early it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year in terms of their population size.”
Ross says he’s watching for earwigs and box elder bugs to creep out in the coming weeks.
While southern Idaho experienced a warmer-than-usual winter, the rest of the Northwest was normal. That means Oregon, Washington, and north Idaho residents probably don’t have to worry about being swarmed... more than usual.
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network