Midge Season 'Will Be Over Before You Know It,' Health District Says

If your screen windows or the path to your driveway is cluttered with pesky midges, the Lake County General Health District has some good news.

"They'll be gone as quickly as they came," Director of Environmental Health Nancy Niehus said. "People complain about that this time of year and it's a normal thing."

That means the phones at the district in Painesville have been ringing nonstop with complaints about midges and mayflies, along with the $1 million question — will you spray to get rid of the critters?

Niehus and staff have been answering 'no' to that question mainly because it would be a waste of resources, despite the annoyance factor.

"They're alive long enough to reproduce and that's it," she said. "We're not going to spray or anything ... it's a very short life span for them. It'll be over before you know it."

That amount is often five to 10 days. The attraction to lakeshore communities like Mentor is due to their breeding in water. They hatch in large numbers when the water first warms up and once again in the fall when it begins to cool down.

"They don't bite, they don't sting, they don't feed, they don't ... anything," Niehus said, "but they're a nuisance and there's a gazillion of them."

How do you deal with midges? Let us know in the comments section.