Swarm weather: Spring brings start of gnat season across CSRA
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The warmer months are on the way which means more gnats and more mosquitoes.
If you’ve been outside in Georgia in the evening, you’ve probably seen, or felt, the gnats.
The problem is especially bad in the southern three-quarters of Georgia.
There’s a so-called “gnat line” that runs through Georgia. On the south side of the line, the gnats swarm interminably. On the north side, not so much.
The diagonal gnat line es from Columbus to Augusta, so we’re not safe.
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“As soon as it starts warming up, that’s when you’ll start noticing them, that’s why we’re noticing them now,” said Byron Loomis, manager of Yates-Astro Termite and Pest Control in Savannah, which is well within the swarm zone.
And when it starts to cool down, “You can go all the way to the first frost. And then they will go dormant,” said Loomis.
He says the best advice he could give to protect yourself is to wear light clothing and use repellant..
“With deet in it, and if you do that, that’ll help also,” said Loomis.
And if you just so happen to have a gnat issue at home, “Vacuum very very thoroughly, because when they’re not flying around and all that, they’re in cracks and crevices, so they’ll get down in carpets around the baseboards. And there’s a few pesticides you can use. It’s easier to get rid of gnats inside the house than it is outside naturally,” Loomis added.
But I think we can all agree, “They’re just a nuisance,” said Loomis.
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