A mound of mosquitoes is the sign of a bad biting season.
And today Lyman Roberts, director of Sarasota County Mosquito Management, dumped a mesh bag packed with mosquito carcasses on to a white board.
The pile, he said, came from a single trap during a three-hour period in North Port.
That's not good and it's not cheap.
"We actually sprayed 19,200 acres in North Port, which essentially is a triple mission down there," he said.
A triple aerial mission costs about $22,000.
"This is the first year in my 14 where it doesn't look like our approved budget is going to be enough to make it through the year," Roberts said.
Mosquito management survives on a small portion of property taxes. Each homeowner pays a few dollars a year.
Roberts said his staff and his budget keep dwindling.
"Our contractor costs have gone up more than 20 percent in the last several years," he said. "The cost of chemicals has jumped hugely more than 25 percent."
For taxpayers the result means less aerial spraying and more of a cheaper pesticide.
"One of the sad things is one of our least toxic materials, a growth regulator for mosquito larvae, costs three times as much as the organophosphate, which everybody knows is a little bit more toxic," he said.
Mosquito management can dip into its reserves, but as the seasonal staff shrinks by nearly half and the calls for help top 20 or 30 a day, Roberts worries the cash cushion can only hold up for so long.
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