A swarm of adult Asian tiger mosquitoes bit the dust in Gary Leventhal's back yard in Baltimore yesterday.
State mosquito control entomologist Mike Cantwell delivered a fatal pesticide spray after responding to Leventhal's complaints that the aggressive mosquitoes were eating him and his neighbors alive and driving them indoors.
The rainy weather, and the region's growing population of imported tiger mosquitoes, are making outdoor activities unbearable for many people in the Baltimore area this summer.
But Leventhal was the squeaky wheel, and two years of his complaints to state and city agencies yesterday brought Cantwell and a city sanitarian to his home in the Original Northwood section for another look at the situation.
Leventhal and Cantwell parted yesterday in disagreement over whether the neighborhood is breeding its own problems. The tigers favor man-made containers and need just a few tablespoons of water and a week's time to hatch a new squadron.
Cantwell's inspection yesterday found no standing water in Leventhal's yard and none in the alley where the insects might breed. But a pint of water in a neighbor's flower pot disgorged 100 tiger mosquito larvae, Cantwell said.
"Though it was not a lot of water, it produced a lot of mosquitoes," he said. He did not inspect other yards because of liability concerns. "I found what I expected to find, and thought I had convinced Gary that the neighborhood could do more to control them."
But Leventhal said he, too, felt vindicated, because only one breeding site was found. "We had a pro out here, turning over everything, without much success, yet we're beset," he said.
Leventhal planned to celebrate the liberation of his yard. But he suspects his troubles are not over, and he believes the state and city should be doing more.
What now? "The next thing," he said, "is either to move, which we're talking about, or what? Slather myself with DEET?"
