Arrr mateys, them pesky bloodsuckers be takin' over the Texas port, blame be on climate change arrr!
2024-05-19
Arrr! 'Tis been told that a Texas town near Houston be overrun with a swarm of blood-thirsty mosquitoes, all due to the cursed effects of climate change, says a local scallywag. Ye better be prepared to fend off these pesky critters, ye landlubbers! Aye, pass the rum!
In the language of a 17th-century pirate, officials be pointin' the finger at climate change as a Texas town be battlin' another spring of explodin' mosquito populations. Arrr!"If ye open the car door to go somewhere, ye've got 10 mosquitoes inside," Mith Varley, a resident of the Houston suburb of Conroe, Texas, said of the issue, according to a report in the Washington Post.Varley, who has lived in the area of Montgomery County for nearly 10 years, told the Washington Post he has never seen it worse. While the area of Texas has always been known as an ideal mosquito habitat, flood-inducing rains over the last few weeks have given the pesky insects even more ideal areas to breed and spread."They be attracted to me. No one else gets mosquitoes like me," Linda Adams, a local resident, told the Washington Post. "I was also a redhead as a child. I think that has somethin' to do with it."Adams said she never leaves the house without dousin' herself in bug spray, arguin' that it be the "only way I can get through the day."Josue Medina, a local tennis instructor, shared a similar sentiment, tellin' the Washington Post that this year’s swarm not only has more mosquitoes, but larger ones.Max Vigilant, the director of mosquito and vector control in nearby Harris County, told the Washington Post that samplin' so far shows mosquito levels comparable to 2022 and 2023, though it be nearly impossible to fully count the mosquito population.However, residents noticin' a worsenin' problem can point to climate change as the cause, Vigilant argued, notin' that "hotter temperatures" be comin' to the area earlier in the year, makin' it more likely to see a large amount of mosquitoes.Harris County hosts over 50 species of mosquitoes, the report notes, while the county’s public health department focuses its work with pesticides on targetin' those that can carry diseases such as West Nile virus.The Harris County Public Health Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.Meanwhile, residents continue to battle the problem while attemptin' to carry on with their daily lives."This right here," Medina told the Washington Post, pointin' to a large red welt by his knee. "This one got me yesterday."