SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Noticing a lot of flies, cockroaches and ants lately?
Experts say you’re right.
There are more pests out there than usual right now and they may be here for a few more weeks.
“When it gets warm and humid like this, it really gives insects a much better environment to grow in,” said Chris Conlan, supervising Vector Ecologist for the San Diego County Vector Control Program. “Insect growth is typically controlled by temperature, so the warmer it is, the faster they grow.”
CBS 8 headed out to Mission Beach where the flies were keeping Rick Cole busy. “They're very aggressive,” Cole said. “You can have a sandwich in your hand ready to put in your mouth and the fly is landing on it. It's fairly disgusting.”
Cole joked that he could spend his entire day swatting flies. And he's not alone. “The flies started biting me,” said Tony “Karuna” Sanchez. “I'm like - am I dusty or sweaty? I don't even know!”
People are putting up traps, but the problem doesn't seem to be getting any better. “The real trick with the flies is finding where they're coming from,” Conlan said. Without question, a favorite place for flies is leftover food. “Any moist, decomposing organic matter is where they're going to be and so finding that and getting rid of it is really the key.”
To try and reduce the flies, some people are paying to have their trash cans cleaned after trash day.
San Diego Fresh Cans says their business is booming right now… people hiring them to scrub out the nastiness left behind.
Entomologists say the current infestation should definitely be less of an issue once the weather cools down, but until then you should expect to see a lot of them.
Flies are sneaky so even if you try to keep them out sometimes there's nothing you can do.
“You open the door to go outside and there was one sitting on the door and so you accidentally let him in,” Conlan said. “Or if you’ve got kids - good luck keeping the doors and the screens closed, you know with the kids bouncing in and out - that's my problem. I'm the entomologist and I can't keep the flies out because I've got kids!”
Without question, they're gross. But Conlan says they’re generally more of a nuisance than a hazard.
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