By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The mosquitos are not going to go away on their own. Following several inches of rain on Aug. 9, several communities in Barton County have experienced an overload of the dangerous pests. The city of Hoisington announced Monday it will be spraying three times this week, including Wednesday and Friday.
"We've had quite a few phone calls, emails, and social media messages that we knew we needed to do something different," said Hoisington City Manager Jonathan Mitchell. "We're really going to try to make a big impact this week by going three times, which is more than I can ever remember doing it in one week, then we're probably going to take it down to two the following week, then see where we're at at that time."
Mosquitos are most active at dusk and dawn, and Hoisington will try to hit the bugs during that peak of activity.
"We typically advertise it as 8 p.m. to midnight but we may go a little earlier, so to be safe, maybe 7 p.m. to midnight would probably be a good time to avoid being outside," Mitchell said.
West Nile Virus associated with mosquitos typically peaks in August and September. There have been four reported cases of the disease in Kansas this year.