This is a retraction of a former blog entry that noted that Bend was pretty much bug-free in summer.
That's because if you haven't been living exclusively indoors with the air conditioning on full blast, you've probably noticed that there are suddenly swarms of female mosquitoes (Culicidae) out there eager to get into your skin. Swarms that, in some places like along the River Trail, up on Storm King and in Shevlin Park can be downright nerve wracking.
"Make sure you've got a lot of bug repellant," noted a woman walking a dog as she strolled into the Shevlin parking lot," the mosquitoes along the creek are thick."
I thanked her for the tip and mentioned that I thought the mosquitoes, because of the long wet spring, were the worst I'd ever experienced in Central Oregon.
Overhearing our conversation another woman offered: "Well my husband and I have been here six years and there have been worse mosquito years for sure."
Knowing that arguing with a recent Bend transplant is a no-win situation at best and that playing the I've-been-here-for-way-longer-than-that card only would only make me look stupid, I let it slide.
But for the record, in my humble opinion, this is the worst mosquito season of the past three decades. It's so bad that KTVZ news recently did a segment on how the mosquitoes have taken over Sunriver and are holding tourists hostage.
And while that's hyperbole, I suspect our tourism promotion people are in a full state of panic as our fair city and environs, are supposed to be bug free.
That's because as Eden-on-earth, pesky skeeters are not supposed to make outdoor barbeques and parties not as much fun as they should be. And sleeping with the doors wide open shouldn't become a situation where just after you shut the lights out and start drifting off to dreamland that a squadron of buzzing pests attacks.
So what to do? Put up with the mosquitoes for about one more week and when we start to get a hint of cool fall weather, they'll be gone. Then we can get back to outdoor living at it's finest and the tourism people can breath easier knowing that Bend won't make it onto the list of "Top Ten Cities Enjoyed By Mosquitoes" story that's bound to appear in some newspaper or magazine somewhere soon.
