In some parts of the country (mainly the hot, humid parts), humanity’s relationship with the friendly insect known as the mosquito can be quite contentious. Not only do these wonderful little pests swarm you, suck your blood, and leave unattractive splotches all over your skin, but they’re also known to transport many of the viruses that routinely kill loads of people. Now, some local governments are deploying drones to help fight the insect scourge.
Broward County, Florida recently began using one of the automated devices to “spray for mosquitoes in hard-to-reach places,” according to a report from the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. Local governments routinely spray mosquito breeding grounds to kill the larvae that could ultimately grow into dangerous, disease-carrying bugs. Until recently, teams had to be sent out to Florida’s marshy environs where Aedes mosquitoes (also known as “Yellow fever mosquitoes”) laid their eggs. Now, Broward officials can send out drones to get the job done without any need for human suffering, the Sentinel reports:
Until now, crews could spend days covering a single territory that’s inaccessible by truck, wading in mud, armed with a machete to get past bushy trees.
“These poor guys who have to go in there,” lamented Anh Ton, director of Broward’s Highway & Bridge Maintenance Division, a division of the county’s Public Works Department, which oversees its Mosquito Control Division.
Now, the drone is traveling to where the breed of mosquitoes…lay their eggs.
Using drones to fight mosquitoes is not an unprecedented trend. Back in 2013, Florida tested the use of drones to find pools of water where mosquitoes could spawn in large numbers.
These drones, however, are getting right into the battle with the insects, and other counties across the U.S. are doing the same. In California, Orange and Santa Clara counties, among others, recently began doing a similar tactic with drones. Prior to drone use, local governments tended to rely on larger aircraft, like planes and helicopters to drop pesticides on the insects, the Associated Press has reported.
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