Florida’s mosquito control districts consider using drones

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Mosquito control districts are always looking for new and better ways to kill the pesky bugs. Tuesday, a brand new idea was put on the table that could change the way they kill mosquitoes forever.

During the rainy season, the county’s mosquito control district sends out a fleet of aircrafts nearly every day, killing the bugs and trying to prevent deadly diseases from spreading.

Leaders are now talking about the possibility of drones taking to the sky, assisting them when it comes to killing mosquitoes.

“It would really speed up the process and make it much easier,” said Mark Latham, Mosquito Control Association.

They’re pesky, they’re annoying and we live around them nearly every day. Mosquitoes can take a pleasant evening and ruin everything. That’s part of the reason why mosquito control districts from across the state met in Southwest Florida.

“The intent of the meeting is just to share ideas,” said Latham.

One of those ideas, is the use of drones. The technology would speed up the process of looking for mosquito breeding grounds.

“The person operating it can see, well is that known breeding site flooded or not, without having to put someone out, clambering through all the marsh and everything else.”

The FAA still has to approve the use of commercial drones for killing mosquitos, before any mosquito control district could buy one.

“It’s going to be quite a way in the future, before it’s actually going to be used on a normal day.”

There was some discussion of putting a tank on a drone, and using it to spray pesticides. However, that could weigh down the machine significantly. A similar solution could only be used to target very small sites that are hard to reach.