Bloodsucking menace of mosquitoes continues late-season invasion in Wisconsin

No one is safe.

Everyone — from criminal suspects to critter-control technicians to cattle — is being harassed by swarms of winged blood-suckers otherwise known as mosquitoes.

Residents of Wisconsin from roughly State Highway 29 southward have in recent weeks experienced the worst mosquito hatch of the season, and one of the worst hatches in memory, with hordes of aggressive mosquitoes showing up unusually late in the season. 

"It's unlike anything I have ever seen before in terms of the amount and the ferocity of the mosquitoes," said P.J. Winkelmann, owner of Advanced Wildlife Control in Mequon.

The company's mosquito control crews are working seven days a week right now and the company has been receiving 30 to 40 calls a day from itching, exasperated residents seeking relief from the airborne menace. 

The mosquitoes are showing no mercy to Advanced Wildlife's crews.

"They are getting chewed alive," Winkelmann said. "I had one guy tell me he was getting bit up so bad that he had to put on his bee suit (normally used to protect against bee stings) to finish the job he was at."

Folks across the state are dealing with biting hordes of mosquitoes. 

“I have never experienced anything like it,” said Kim Diedrich, chief naturalist at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay.  “This is the worst I’ve ever seen. Maybe the perfect hatch.”

The mosquitoes all but ruined the public walk event at the sanctuary last weekend, with participants rushing to finish to get away from the blood-letting, she said.

Blame all the rain — 2.86 inches in Milwaukee, 2.85 inches in Madison, 3.07 inches in the Green Bay area and 3.99 inches in Wausau — that fell during the first week in September.

That heavy rain formed massive puddles, some of which filled low-lying areas and just sat there. Then the weather turned unseasonably warm and a large part of the state suddenly saw a mosquito birthing bonanza. 

"That excessive rain that we got a few weeks ago has hatched every mosquito on the the planet, I think," Winkelmann said. 

'Really vicious biters'

These mosquitoes are so hungry, they don't even wait for the arrival of evening before deciding to feed. They are attacking midday and in full sun.

Even P.J. Liesch, director of the University of Wisconsin’s insect diagnostic lab in Madison, called it out of the ordinary.

“We’re seeing very unusual numbers,” Liesch said. “Typically we have some of them around, but in general, in Wisconsin this time of year, they start quieting down.

“But because of the very unusual rain patterns in the last couple weeks, that set the stage for a flush of mosquitoes this late in the season.”

Wisconsin has more than 60 species of mosquitoes, but this recent hatch is what scientists generally call floodwater mosquitoes. They tend to be “really vicious biters,” Liesch said.

If there is a silver lining, floodwater mosquitoes generally are not disease carriers.

Use a repellent containing Deet, wear long sleeves and you’ll probably be OK, Liesch said.

Business picks up

At the Elliott's Ace Hardware chain of stores in metro Milwaukee, the weird mosquito season timing is definitely noticeable, said Matt Elliott, a family co-owner. 

"We've had years when (mosquito-related business) was much more intense in the middle of the summer and we didn't seem to have that this year," Elliott said. Then, "the last two to three weeks have just gone crazy."

"It has only been recently that we have seen a big surge in business" for such things as repellent and yard sprays, Elliott added.  

Middleton, Wis.-based Spectrum Brands has seen sales of its Cutter and Repel repellent products jump in the latter part of the mosquito season, said Lacey Ebert, director of marketing for the company's household and repellent products. 

"We've really seen the season pick up toward the second half of the year," Ebert said. "I would say the Upper Midwest has been up 20% to 25% from a sales standpoint during this back half of the year." 

Cattle, carcasses and criminal suspects

Ross Bishop farms and raises livestock near Jackson in Washington County.

"Last night we were sorting cattle and the mosquitoes on the cattle were just horrendous," Bishop said. "There were like 10 or 20 mosquitoes on top of the cattle just sucking blood out of them. 

"This is not good." 

Farmers use a variety of methods to keep the mosquitoes off them and their animals, Bishop said.

"I have a bug zapper and that thing at night is just going nuts," he said. "The pile (of mosquitoes) underneath the bug killer in the morning is pretty amazing."

Meanwhile, when faced with the choice of being arrested or being eaten alive by mosquitoes, a Fond du Lac man apparently chose handcuffs.

Campbellsport Police Chief Tom Dornbrook said that after leading officers on a high-speed chase through Campbellsport, the man abandoned the car he was in and ran into a cornfield.

A police dog, a drone and multiple officers couldn’t find the man in the field, but clouds of mosquitoes ultimately drove him out and onto the road, Dornbrook said.

Soon, Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Zitlow pulled up and arrested him.

“We teased (Zitlow) and told him that between him and a million mosquitoes, they had caught the guy,” Dornbrook said.

The man wore a hoodie, but still had 10 to 15 mosquitoes feasting on his exposed forehead when he was arrested, Dornbrook said.

Another hatch possible

Meanwhile, there’s still plenty of time, if conditions are right, for another hatch. That means we conceivably could be dealing with second-generation mosquitoes, eating alongside their parents.

“It depends on the weather pattern,” Liesch said. “If there’s more rain, and the rain results in areas that stay kind of flooded for a significant time, two or three weeks, we could potentially see some more.”

Paul Srubas of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and Sophie Carson of the Fond du Lac Reporter, both part of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, contributed to this report.