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Skeeters have hoods buggin’ out

By Jennifer DeMeritt
for The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Papers / Jennifer DeMerritt

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Our neighborhood is abuzz — not about a new hot celebrity who moved in, but about unwelcome guests who usually only show up in summer.

The unseasonably warm weather has brought about a plague of out-of-season mosquitoes to a steamy swath stretching from Prospect Heights to Brooklyn Heights. Residents are reporting bug bites this winter like they haven’t seen since the dog days.

“Last week I saw a mosquito the size of a sparrow flying around,” said Olivia Cortina of Sterling Place.

“We swatted two this week!” added her neighbor Mark McCartney.

This is one time when size matters, said a third victim.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” said a man on Washington Avenue, “but they are huge.”

In one extreme case, a mosquito bite almost led to a breakup: “I saw this huge bug on my girlfriend’s head while she slept,” said Graham Guerra. “Without thinking, I smacked it, and we got into a fight.”

Mosquito complaints picked up in late December. The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not return calls to confirm whether the weather is, in fact, the culprit. However, the department Web site has plenty of free (albeit obvious) advice for skeeter sufferers: remove standing water so the buggers can’t breed, install screens, and use bug repellent with DEET or eucalyptus oil.

The most popular treatments for itchy bites are Benadryl (which can reduce some pain) and cursing (which provides only temporary relief).

And, of course, blaming Bruce Ratner: “I think the mayor is spreading the West Nile Virus so that Ratner can drive out residents,” speculated a conspiracy theorist who goes by the nom de bizarre, Breukelen.

Blame Ratner. Now that’s original.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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